Crackpot Ministry
by Anabolina
Summary: Percy's life is reasonably calm, what with He Who Must Not Be Named coming out and all, when he meets Luna and his life goes to pot. This is a Luna x Percy story. I think the ship is called Schemes and Dreams.
1. The First Meeting

**AN: **My sister and I were driving home from On the Border and were talking about HP and different ship names. We decided Luna needed someone and I've always thought Percy would be the only Weasely I would date and he often gets a bad rap. This is a Percy-Luna.

Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to any of the characters. If I did, I would be paying off all these student loans.

**Chapter 1:**

"Hello". Percy heard a soft voice behind him. He was waiting for the lifts, they had been moving slowly ever since Scrimgeour took over the government. He had been grumbling to himself that despite his deficiencies, Fudge kept the lifts moving. "Yes." He said shortly, turning around. He was secretly hoping there would be a problem and he could rush back to the office, looking powerful and important. He was greeted by the sight of a rather dreamy looking girl who was staring up at him through big, blue eyes.

"You're Percy Weasely, Ronald's brother, right? I met him. We were both in Dumbledore's Army." Her unblinking stare would make a lesser man uncomfortable, he thought uncomfortably and shifted a little closer to the lift, pressing the button repeatedly.

"Yes. I am his older brother." Percy sniffed and tried not to think of his family. Why did they have to always side with that Harry Potter? They were HIS family, not Harry's.

"Hmmm." The girls looked thoughtfully at his finger as it pressed the lift button yet again. "If you continue to do that, you may get Rum-Thumb. It's a horrible condition that causes great boils to erupt from various orifices of your body and turns you various rainbow colors." She cocked her head to the side.

Percy froze with his hand still pressed into the button. "Are you sure?" His voice rose slightly and he looked around to make sure no one would see him if he turned pink, or worse violet.

"Yes, we did an article over it last month. There's been quite an epidemic in the past year." The girl's head cocked to the side. It showed off the burnished blonde of her hair and Percy found himself staring at it, before shaking himself free of her. It occurred to him that she spoke of article.

"Really, you are a writer for a journal."

"Yes, although I still attend Hogwarts, so I write with my father only during the summers." She stared at the lift button dreamily. "I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood."

Percy felt dismay fill him. "Oh, you work on _The Quibbler_." He felt his hopes for an article in the _Daily Prophet_ die a gruesome death against the rocks of truth. They were pulverized.

Luna seemed not to notice Percy's disappointment. "Yes. We are here to interview the Minister right now, although father said he might not get in to see him today. We'll be back tomorrow, and every day until the Minister grants us an interview." Her light voice hardened slightly on saying "The Minister." She frowned, "I suppose I will be here a lot."

Percy smiled, wondering why the lift still had not come. With so many defensive spells being cast in the Ministry, some simple magical spells worked less reliably, like lifts, lights, locks, practical jokes. He smiled to himself. His brothers, Fred and George were twins and worked in tandem always. They sent him a box today with some lovely glasses within. Not knowing what jinx they placed on them, he gave the pair to his competition, ahem, coworker Phyllia Roseburn. She had only a slightly yellow cast.

Percy knew the glasses were probably intended to turn him a bright canary yellow. No doubt to make him feel worse about deserting the family in the time of troubles and less-than-subtly, in a typically obvious way, tell him he was weak and cowardly for not joining the Order. He sighed; the twins had never understood that a seed could be as effective as a plant. Their lack of subtlety was no longer Percy's problem. He could ignore them now. The one benefit of his familial estrangement.

"Um, yes." Percy felt he should say something to the strange girl. She looked at his hair and then into his eyes. He felt a tingle, somewhere.

Suddenly, a memo zoomed, rather half-heartedly, toward him from around the dimly lit corner. It stopped in front of Percy and waited for his acknowledgment. He grabbed it from the air and read, "Dear Ministry employee, the lift system is hereby inoperable. You will be contacted with more information should you choose to remain in your offices. The stairs are, of course, available for your use. Have a pleasant evening, Maintenance Manager Floos-Barr (Ministry Memo #1123490)." Percy slumped slightly against the wall before remembering Luna and straightening.

"The memo says we must take the stairs, or wait until maintenance comes up with an alternative." Percy looked around. He had no idea where the stairs were, being new to this floor and his position as under-secretary to Mabel Blarney, new head of the Improper Use of Magic Office.

"I would try that door," Luna said, looking unconcerned and making no movement to look for the stairs down. Percy tried the door and discovered… a broom cupboard filled with magical cleaning solutions and a couple ratty towels. "They could have created an illusion. Maybe these are the stairs." She moved almost imperceptibly toward the cupboard and peered around. Percy tapped his foot and looked for a likely door. He had NO intention of asking who 'they' were.

"Who are they?" He heard himself ask. It was as though someone else had taken over his body, someone who wanted to hear crackpot theories from this girl who still went to Hogwarts.

"You know, the Oggilvanies, they live deep in the Department of Mysteries and are rarely seen." She looked solemnly into the dark of the cupboard, as though expecting to see a little green man fly from within and accost them, screaming, 'Give me back my mysteries', or some such nonsense. He shook his head.

"I see you have not seen them. My father and I once spent an entire week here, looking, but they refuse to appear for us." She looked sadly at him and he suddenly wanted to round up ever Oggilvany in the world.

"Umm, why do they live in the Department of Mysteries?" Percy looked uncomfortably over his shoulder; there was a door toward the end of the hall, surrounded by darkness. He started moving toward it and Luna followed, looked longingly behind her, toward the cupboard.

"My father says they need some sort of dark potion the ministry is creating down there. They may even be addicted to it. We need to gather more information and the Minister will not allow us to stay here overnight again." She breezily shook her smooth hair from her face. It cascaded down her back, rippling below her shoulders. Percy felt an odd desire to smooth some flyaways down from around her face.

He opened the door to see a long, well-lit stairway. It seemed o go on forever. He sighed and walked through the doorway.

"Maybe you shouldn't. There may be a Lousey Railcot toward the bottom, they are good friends with the Oggilvany. Lousey Railcots love to eat people." Luna cocked her head to the side. "Do you want to die?"

"No!" Percy exclaimed and hesitated before starting down the stairs.

Luna hesitated and followed, humming to herself. She looked as though she had no worries and nothing to think about except not falling down the stairs. Percy kept looking behind his at the girl in blue and tripped twice before focusing on getting down the stairs and ignoring his fellow stair-stepper.

The stairs were wooden, darkened with use and age to a deep mahogany. The walls were a creamy puce and light radiated from everywhere. On each floor, an identical door sat with the number of the floor written in the upper center area. The green of the door looked unfashionably old to the mod tastes of Percy. He read WQ Magazine to keep up with the latest in wizard fashions. The girl behind him wore a set of blue robes that looked new while her hair hung loose. Whenever she moves, he caught glimpses of her earrings, large yellow daisies suspended from gold chains. He was still trying to find a way to get rid of Luna when they reached the Atrium. He started pushing the door open when Luna placed her hand on his arm. He felt a sting of heat and felt his face turning red. Percy had hoped he was beyond this sort of thing. He was 21 years old, certainly old enough, and mature enough, to not be embarrassed when a girl touched you. It had never bothered him when Penelope, his ex-girlfriend, touched him casually on the arm.

Luna grasped his arm and motioned him to silence. He looked around and saw nothing. She pointed to the dusty corner and said, "I think I saw an Oggilvany. It's gone now. It's proven. Oggilvanies exist. I cannot wait to tell my father. Maybe we should put out a special issue."

"I saw nothing." Percy peered into the corner and shook his head.

Luna began humming and stared at Percy for a long moment. "Yes, I see." She said in a softer voice than normal and opened the door into the Atrium. "Goodbye." She said as she breezed from the stairwell.

Percy felt as though the Hogwarts Express had trodden over him with its large, red wheels and tasteless Hogwarts students laughing within. Luna was definitely unlike anyone he had ever met. Even though he knew he should forget he ever met her, he was hoping to see her at work again. She may be crazy, he thought, but she's also exciting and her father is somewhat important in his publishing job. Some people do believe what he writes. Percy whistled, "I'll Put a Hex on You in the Morning if you Touch That," as he strolled toward the apparition rooms.


	2. Percy's Somewhat Bad Day

**Chapter 2:**

Percy's next day started out good. His landlady came to see him to ask if he would look after the property while she was away visiting her children and their children, and their children's children, and their children. He became tired just counting them up, and he really wasn't interested anyway, so he stopped counting. Suffice to say, there were plenty of relatives for her to visit and she would be gone for a month. She asked him to feed her dog, Morag, and take care of the large house in which he rented a small flat. He did appreciate her giving him authority over the other 4 tenants. There were some changes he wanted to institute immediately. For example, his upstairs neighbors insisted on making potions until the wee hours of the morning. The fumes would waft down and he would wake up with extra larges noses, or funny colored body parts. Once he slept for 2 days because they concocted a new form of the Delta draft. Why they needed to redevelop a potion that had been effective for centuries the day before he was to present himself to Rufus Scrimgeour, he had no idea.

His landlady, Mrs. Penn, refused to stop their concoctions, "It's how they make their money." She explained. Percy wished they would get real jobs and stop bothering him.

As much as Percy enjoyed the power he now held over his fellow tenants, he did not relish looking after Morag. Morag was a boundless ball of energy who behaved with little discretion, and jumped frequently on anything around her. Mrs. Penn was given Morag by her great-great-granddaughter, Deena, for Christmas a couple years earlier and loves the little beast. Although Morag was not exactly little anymore. The dog weighed 50 pounds and when standing, reached above Percy's knees. She was some muggle mixed breed that Deena picked up at some muggle dog orphanage, or some such. Percy tried to pay attention, but was uninterested in Deena's muggle meanderings, despite Deena's beautiful, uh, eyes. Yeah, Percy did not allow himself to think about her other parts, although they also had interested him too.

He met Deena within days of Penelope's desertion. Penelope left for America to visit her uncle, Marty, and found a job as a marketer for some magical shampoo brand. She could not understand why Percy could not move to America to be with her. She went on and on about how this was a great opportunity for her and how he was only an assistant in the International office and how her job was more important. After weeks of arguments in which both said a great many unforgettable things, they simply stopped sending owls to each other. Percy admitted to some disgruntlement with the ending, but did not allow himself to think overly about it.

There were plenty of other women interested in him, Deena for example. Unfortunately, Deena lasted a month before she told him she needed someone who was there for her. Whatever that meant, he dismissed Deena from his mind and dwelled on his later confrontation with his upstairs neighbors. He smiled and failed to notice the quickly moving shadow as it slid beneath his door. He turned toward the kitchen door and cleaned the mess Mrs. Penn always left. It was as though dust followed her through the house. She also had trouble eating cleanly. There were crumbs all over the table and her cup had left a ring on the table. Percy sighed as he waved his wand. The dust, crumbs, and stain disappeared and his kitchen was spotless again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something and whipped his head around. It was gone. Percy gripped his want in his right hand and backed toward the wall. The kitchen suddenly felt less empty than before and the light pouring in from the window lost its brightness. It wasn't the cold that preceded a dementor attack. It was something else, something, more alive and more personally menacing. He had the feeling something wanted HIM, specifically. While he felt the need to be needed, this was not what he wanted.

Percy started reviewing spells in his head. While at Hogwarts, he had studied dueling in the hope that someone would challenge him, but it had not happened. His table glittered brightly in the monochromatic room. Percy had decorated the already overwhelmingly white room with even more white, and some black for contrast. The table was mostly white, with black legs and his black chairs started clattering. Percy jumped and felt a coldness move along his nerves. The white daisies on the counter seemed to lose their life, even though they looked the same. Percy held still, he wanted no distractions from whatever was coming.

Percy's wand hand shook slightly when a shadow began coalescing between him and his table. He could see the glittery table top through the shadow and wished he could simply wave the smoke away. Why not…

"Levita sombra." The shadow was patently unmoved. Percy felt his confidence waver slightly. Maybe he should simply dispel the magic.

"Dispersar." He thundered. The shadow shimmered slightly and started growing larger. It's once amorphous shape started forming into some sort of beast. It was large with 2 heads, large ears, small legs, and big arms. As the form became more solid, Percy edged closed to the hallway door. Maybe if he could reach it, Percy could escape the vile wee beastie.

The shadowy beast started stalking forward. It still glided, despite having legs, they did not move. It picked up speed until it blew through him and the wall behind him. Percy gasped for air for it seemed the beast had taken his breath with it. It took several minutes before he noticed everything in his kitchen was unchanged from before the beast's appearance. He looked at the clock upon his wall. Less than 5 minutes had pasted since he last checked the clock, but he felt a great dissonance within his soul that had not been there before.

Percy shook his head to clear it and realized if he didn't leave now, he would be late for the office. What if they needed him for something? He was usually at the office 2 hours before anyone else. He was there if anyone needed anything. Someday soon it would pay off and he would get a promotion. He would have been promoted even earlier, were it not for his family's public persona. They couldn't understand that appearances matter. They could do whatever they want in private, but act normal in public. His father, with his muggle fixation, caused Percy to be teased, derided, and maligned when first he started at the Ministry. Were his father more normal in public, Percy may have still been a junior undersecretary to the minister.

Percy left his flat through the side door built onto the house after the centuries of existence by the rest of the house. He took 2 steps out and apparated to the Ministry. As he breathed in the smell of freshly varnished floors, he decided it was the smell of success, as he did every day. He vowed to be the most efficient he could be and to avoid acting abnormally.

He caught himself looking for a flash of blonde hair as he moved toward the lifts. Maybe Luna and her father would still be here. Percy privately thought there was little chance of Luna's father seeing Scrimgeour, yesterday, today, or tomorrow.

The lifts were working this morning, even though they did take more than twice the time of normal. Percy rounded the corner toward his Office when he saw a flash of gold out of the corner of his eyes. He felt a pressure in his chest and stopped to look to the right. Luna was standing, looking at a portrait of Nigelus the Wondrous. She was standing on the balls of her feet and humming what sounded like "Live with me Among the Felix Felicis."

"Hello." Percy tried to look nonchalant, as though he hadn't been looking for this girl since arriving in the Ministry. He walked toward her, maybe a little faster than normal, although he did make sure he didn't fall over his feet. This had been a problem when he was a kid, something the twins teased him about until he managed to get them detention everyday for a month their first year at Hogwarts. Percy did not consider that the twins would bore of teasing him about being clumsy when there were some many other targets around.

"Did you know that Nigelus was responsible for creating the Horns of Gigantir. The horns make anyone grow more than 3 feet when blown. I think they disappeared into the Department of Mysteries." Luna continued to stare dreamily at the portrait and hum.

"I thought the Horns of Gigantir was supposed to be a myth." Percy said before he could stop himself. He did NOT want to encourage Luna's more imaginative tendencies.

"Only to those who have not the foresight to believe in them." Luna finally turned toward him and smiled slightly. Percy felt as though a great weight had lifted from his soul. He felt light and found himself grinning back at Luna for several moments before remembering that the office was merely feet away. Anyone could see him talking to Luna Lovegood, and that would not benefit his career. His smile fell and he backed away, looking around to make sure no one was around. Maybe he could meet with Luna a little in secret, just to talk about her father's magazine. Maybe Percy could persuade her and her father to make it into a proper magazine, one that published articles on magical defense and the proper brewing of various potions rather than imaginary beast and conspiracy theories. Percy ignored that there were at least 5 magazines on that very subject, maybe more, and that _The Quibbler_ was, at least, unique.

"Maybe we could talk about this more later. What are you doing this evening?" Percy consciously kept his face from turning red. He would not be embarrassed.

"Hmmm." Luna looked up at him, considering. "I should be here in case we meet with the Minister." She paused and looked back at the portrait, than at his office door, than back at Percy. "The Ministry's marbredouxes could try to attack me tonight. They are attracted to witches below 18 years of age and give you all sorts of growth about your person. Where shall we meet so I can explain the Horns of Gigantir to you?" She looked expectant and somewhat less flighty than before.

"Um." Percy had not considered where they could meet. "Shall me meet at Bucky's Tavern in Diagon Alley? Say at 7:30."

"Well, Diagon Alley does have some Sinegals and the Ministry does spy of everyone that comes and leaves, but I think I'll be safe." She did not say 'with you', but Percy felt as though she had said it and he felt as though he could do anything, even become Minister of Magic.

Percy backed up a little. "Great, I'll see you there." She smiled and he hesitated then nodded to her and opened the frosted office door and entered. It was time to get some work done. Percy felt his mood lift, and he was going to see Luna after work.

The first problem at work was that his direct supervisor, Janice Markham, had a mountain of work, but her daughter, the eternally energetic 2-year Marcy, had no babysitter. The babysitter quit that morning because she was marrying her boyfriend and moving to America today. Janice's husband, Roquellan, was negotiating an agreement with Turkey to support Britain against He Who Must Not Be Named. This left Janice with a really busy day and no one to look after her little girl. Of course, she asked Percy to and Percy was feeling only slightly put upon. He had only seen the little girl twice when Janice brought her by the office while on vacation and didn't think one little girl could be much of a problem.

Janice gave Percy a bag of Marcy's toys and told him to "keep my little Marcy amused until I finish the report." Them she gave him a look that plainly said, 'If you can't take care of a two-year old child, you are not worth the clothes that surround you.'

Percy shouldered the bag and picked up the pony-tailed cherub and walked to his desk. Marcy smiled at him and head-butted him. Percy felt a great pain in his head and cursed silently. Marcy continued to smile and her head moved forward again, Percy almost dropped her in his haste to get her head away from his. Percy felt an ache blooming in his temples. The light feeling in his chest was darkening and he felt more like himself.

Percy took a doll out of Marcy's bag. It said, "Hello," in a falsetto voice and held its arms out to Marcy. Marcy grabbed the doll, then threw it on the ground and yelled. "No, want Tycho." Percy dumped all the toys on the ground and sat down in his chair. This was going to be a long day. Maybe Janice would get done early and save him from her bratty daughter. Suddenly, he heard Marcy cry, she bumped her head into his desk and a large welt appeared on her forward.

Percy sighed and waved his wand to make the rapidly spreading bruise disappear. He picked the little girl up as she continued to cry and remembered yesterday, when the blessedly quiet office ran smoothly and no children ran amok.

Bang. Percy felt light-headed as pain once again exploded in his head. Marcy grinned at him and he felt anger rage within. "You should not hit people with your head Marcy." He said lightly. He would not give this little brat the satisfaction of making him show emotion. He turned her to where she was facing out from his hip and looked around; no one was watching him struggle with the little one, so he mumbled "Quiesco." After all, he knew her hijinks would keep him busy all morning, and he already had a splitting headache. He could just imagine what troubles the brat could cause him. Marcy became limp and he placed her on the floor, cuddled around her doll. Percy figured it would look better if she looked as though she had fallen asleep on her own and he cared. So he placed a blanket around her and posed the little girl in blissful sleep.

Percy smirked to himself and went to work.

Nothing happened until lunch when Janice decided to spend time with her daughter. Percy was deeply studying a document on the Avada Kadavra curse. It detailed the mechanics of spell production and how specifically, the curse killed its victims, as best estimated by qualified healers. He did not notice Janice walk up and try to shake her daughter awake.

"Did you put a spell on my precious little girl?" Janice's normally kind face was contorted. Percy had never seen her this angry. "You couldn't cope with one small child and had to perform magic on her."

Percy considered his words. "I could tell she needed sleep madam, but was unwilling to fall asleep. I did what was best for her." He stood up and flicked his wand at Marcy.

Her eyes opened and she stared at Percy, then her mother, then Percy again. Percy picked her up to hand to Janice, but Janice backed away.

"I'm still busy. I was just coming over to tell you that you get to watch Marcy for the afternoon as well. I don't even have time for lunch so you'll need to feed her." Janice glared at him. "You will perform no more magic on my daughter." The 'or else' went unsaid, but Percy felt it.

"Yes madam." Percy put Marcy back down before she could resume what he had decided was her favorite game.

"The food's in the bag. Don't forget to take her to the rest room. Now." Janice eyed her daughter.

Percy looked at the little girl and saw how she was squirming. He picked her up and held her out of head-butting reach and hurried to the men's restroom.

"No," she said. "For BOYS." She started squirming even more and Percy looked about for some sign of salvation. There was none. He continued toward the restroom and she jumped suddenly from his arms and sat on the floor.

"No" She yelled.

Percy grabbed for her, but the slippery brat dodged and rushed around a desk.

"See here Weasley, keep that little girl under control." Amos Puffin said loftily. Amos had been a year behind Percy at Hogwarts and been another Head Boy. The duo avoided each other because each saw the other as competition.

Percy grabbed Marcy suddenly and the girl squealed. He marched forward, not realizing he was entering the women's restroom until within it's confines. He glared at Marcy. "Now see what you made me do."

She smiled beatifically at him and pointed to her shorts. "Help me."

Percy felt panicked, "What! I thought you knew how to do this?"

Marcy, of course, had no answer and tried to push the shorts down. They would not budge and she started crying.

"Okay, okay." Percy unbuckled the shorts and Marcy pushed them to the ground and waltzed into the stall, it lowered to fit her height and she turned to Percy.

"Bye, Bye." She said and crossed her arms over her chest.

Percy felt as a condemned man must when given a reprieve, or a pardon. He left the restroom and stood outside for several minutes. He began to worry. Had the brat drowned herself? Then Percy would never get a promotion.

He opened the bathroom door carefully and was greeted by the sight of toilet paper strewn about and the sound of barking. Marcy held Percy's wand and was sayning nonsensical phrases over the beast. It began to grow larger. Percy felt at his wand belt for the wand he knew was in the hands of a 2-year old. He rushed forward, but was held off by the dog. It was roughly the size of a horse, with shaggy brown hair, doleful eyes, and a lot of teeth. It growled at him.

"Be a nice little dog." Percy tried to feel calm, but it was hard with the dog's mouth inches from his face. He reached forward and patted its long snout. It leaned into his hand, nearly knocking him over and he inched sideways toward the brat. She ran around the beast and Percy continued stroking it as he moved quickly toward the little girl. She pointed the wand at him and sneezed. I jet a red flame emerged and burned his clothing. He looked down at the once pristine black robes. They were now more tattered then anything he had worn in his life. He had never been good at working with fabric either, so he couldn't repair them.

Marcy started giggling and fell down in her laughter. Percy made his grab and caught his wand before turning it on the dog and saying sedately, "Dispersar." It disappeared, mid-growl and Marcy started crying.

Percy waved his wand at the bathroom and returned to its clean state. Marcy held her hands up to him and he tied a complicated knot around his wand as a secured it once more on his belt. Then he picked the girl up and caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror. The robes were ragged, but the white shirt and black pants beneath were serviceable. He put Marcy down and removed his robes. There was some singing to his shirt, but he decided it was better than going around with burnt robes all day. Percy picked the girl up and strode from the restroom.

The day proceeded as expected. Marcy ran Percy ragged as she demanded all his attention. His in-tray continued to grow and he got nothing done. The minute he would get a moment, Marcy would act out and he would forget his place while he dealt with her. After the fifth time this happened, Percy put his work aside and glared at the little girl.

"I am an assistant, not a babysitter. You are not part of my job and as much as I would like to keep this job. I will watch you misbehave no longer. Be GOOD." He hissed.

Marcy smiled, stood up, and pushed his in-tray off the desk. How she reached it, Percy never knew. He was too busy picked up the now hopelessly disorganized papers. He didn't have time to put them in order, but he did make the stack look neat.

Thankfully, Janice did finish her report by 5, so Percy left the office, hoping to run into Luna. But it was not to be and Percy simply walked down the stairs alone. A couple of times he saw a flash of something out of the corner of his eye, but whenever he looked, there was nothing, and he allowed himself to dwell on it no more.


	3. Their First Date

**Chapter 3:**

After apparating home, Percy smelt the unmistakable odor of Polyjuice potion being brewed upstair. Why would they be making Polyjuice, he thought to himself as he changed into new robes and took some Serum of Dolorosa. Percy marched upstairs to lay down the law to his neighbors, when he felt a rush of cold emanating from beneath their door. He was suddenly too scared to open it. Percy shook with fear and felt it clawing at him to run away. It was that feeling that shook him.

It was most unlike Percy to feel fear this severely. Never in the past had he felt such utter terror. Percy raised his ward hand and though 'Dispersar.' The fear lifted slightly and Percy saw a black string attacked to the door. It seemed out of place, so he examined it. He was right, it was a charm made to ensure people avoided the flat. Now he knew why he was still feeling the fear. He looked at the charmed and muttered "sino metus." The fear lifted and Percy smiled before knocking on the door. He also brushed aside the charm, and it fell to the floor, now useless.

The door cracked open and Percy saw the gimlet eye of Cherie Moledoux. The door quickly shut again and he began to knock once more. When it appeared they would not open the door, Percysimply opened it. They must have forgotton the lock.

The room was typically disorganized. Neither potion-maker was much for cleaning and this was often to blame for various mishaps and explosions in their flat. Clothes and dishes were strewn about. There was a rotten smell within. Cherie and Doug Moledoux were lying on the floor, staring up at the cracked ceiling. It looked as though they had been dead for several days. But that was impossible, Percy thought. He had seen Doug outside just yesterday and had been nodded to in typical unfriendly neighbor fashion.

Percy backed away and looked around cautiously. Someone had opened the door mere minutes ago. He backed against the wall and gripped his wand tightly. The room felt dead to him, as though no one had been in it for weeks. The Polyjuice potion was simmering on the oven burners and Percy once again approached the couple lying on the floor. The rotting smell grew more intense as he approached and he covered his nose with his sleeve. The immediacy of the situation drew such concerns as smell from his mind and he focused on the obviously dead. He backed away again and returned to his flat to write a note to the magical law enforcement squad. He also sent a note to Luna, telling her he would be late. The more that happened to him that day, the more need he felt to see Luna again. She had a wonderful, almost calming influence on his nerves.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, Percy entered Bucky's Tavern and looked around. Luna was dreamily stirring a glass of what looked like water while sitting a looking at the ceiling. Occasionally, another patron would look at her like she was crazy and back away a little. Luna seemed not to notice.

Percy walked to Luna. "Perhaps you would like to sit somewhere a little more cozy." He said, gesturing to a corner. "Did you get my message?"

"Yes, but I was uncertain it came from you. I almost did not come because someone from the ministry may be following us, but you need to know about the Horns of Gigantir." Luna arose and smiled at Percy. He felt his knees give slightly and he placed a hand on her arm and guided her to the corner booth.

They sat across from each other and Percy was struck by how young she looked.

"So, what year are you in at Hogwarts?" Percy consciously suppressed a blush.

"My sixth." She said softly.

Percy felt a little relieved; he would hate to be seen out with someone under the age of 16. Although he had picked this tavern because it was out of the way and few people frequented it, especially after He Who Must Not Be Named rose again.

Luna looked up once more. "I wonder where they keep their supply of Fireman's snare. All public houses own some to keep people in them and drinking."

Percy didn't believe Luna, but he smiled and said nothing. He did not need a confrontation after the day he had. He simply wanted to sit and soak up Luna's fruitiness. She didn't seem to exist in a world that contained reality. She was otherworldly and when Percy saw her, it was hard to remember that he's spent the last 2 hours being interviewed by aurors about his neighbor's death. They had also tried to contact Mrs. Penn, but she's disappeared.

This disaster will probably be all over the _Daily Prophet_ tomorrow, he thought. What will people think that I didn't even notice my neighbors were dead? Percy sighed and focused on Luna s she spoke of the unlikely alliance between snarkles and pixies as though it were fact. She seemed to believe that they wanted to take over the country and would not stop until the Ministry paid attention to them. Then Luna explained the Horns of Gigantir in such detail that Percy found his attention wandering from what she was saying, to how she was saying it. Her hair shimmered in the lamps of the tavern and her eyes spoke to him. Percy had no idea what they were saying, but they were certainly speaking.

Luna fell silent and Percy said, "Yes." Not having any idea what she had asked.

Luna smiled brilliantly and touched his hands across the table. "Thank you. I really appreciate your agreeing."

Percy smiled, feeling panicked. What had he agreed with?

"We'll do this tomorrow?" Luna started stirring her drink, which Percy still had no idea of its contents.

"Yes. How shall we proceed?" Percy moved his hand a little closer to Luna's.

"If your supervisor doesn't mind, you can take me around in the morning." Luna smiled dreamily at him and hummed a couple of bars beneath her breath.

"Maybe you should give me a few days to get ready." Percy felt his slight panic grow to be the size of a mountain. What had he agreed to?

"What do you need to prepare for? You are showing me around." Luna looked questioningly into his eyes. Percy forgot what he was about to say and merely nodded, dumbly. Luna looked over his shoulder at something only she could see and stood up.

"I must return to the Ministry. My father needs some sleep and it is my turn to watch." Luna hesitated as Percy also arose.

"Let me walk you out to the nearest floo network station." Percy placed a cautious hand on her arm and escorted her out of the tavern and into the dark, deserted street. He looked around and saw no one. The floo network station was located in the middle of a large square around which clustered several stores concerning magical paraphernalia.

Percy kept hold of his wand, surreptitiously, as he and Luna walked slowly to the middle of the square. He felt wonderful to walk so close to her and he glanced several times at her hair as it shimmered. As they arrived at the hearth, he felt as though the night should not end.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled slightly at her and she nodded. Percy leaned forward slightly and looked around to make certain no one was watching. Luna slipped away and grabbed a handful of floo powder. She began humming as Percy slid closer and leaned toward her.

He kissed her lightly and ran his hand up her arm. He felt a tingle throughout his body and want to stand there, kissing Luna for the rest of the evening. He looked deeply into her eyes and felt like grinning. Luna looked more surprised then he had yet seen her.

She backed up into the hearth and dropped the floo powder. As it erupted in flames, he could still see her large blue eyes staring at him and her soft voice saying quietly, "Ministry of Magic."

When returning to his flat, he noticed the light was on in his kitchen. He hesitated and gripped his wand in his right hand. Percy knew that, realistically, there was little chance that a death-eater, or unwelcome beastie, or wizard for that matter would enter his kitchen and turn its lights on. What he feared most would be that his mother, or worse, father would be there. They would want to console him and be kind to him. However things had been said that could not be unsaid and Percy did NOT want to be near his family. His father had said some unforgivable things to Percy that Percy preferred not to remember.

Oh well, Percy wanted to get this over with so he simply walked into the flat.

"Oh Percy, let me see you. Are you okay? What were you thinking to discover some dead bodies? You have to move back to the Burrow. You can't live beneath that other flat. Why do you have to live here anyway? I love you. Where have you been?" His mother enveloped him in her arms and hair. For a moment, he hugged his mother back and drank in her scent. It reminded him of all sorts of feelings, like love and safety. He stepped away from his mother and his father hugged him as well. He allowed it for several moments before stepping back again.

"Hello. I suppose you are here because you heard about my neighbors."

"Yes, and imagine our surprise when you weren't here. Where have you been?" His mother studied him and looked over his apartment carefully.

"I am my own man Mother. I cannot be responsible for what occurs in the lifts around me either." Percy felt like weeping into his mother's shoulder, but their current relationship would not allow it.

"You cannot stay here Percy. Surely you see that." His father looked him in the eye.

"No. There is no reason to think this attack is in any way related to me and I would rather stay here." Percy turned away from his parents and walked around his kitchen table. The bright lights reflecting off the surface of the table made it hard to believe that an amorphous beast had appeared before him earlier in the day.

His parents looked to one another. As always, it was as though they shared a psychic connection. He knew they were thinking. 'How can we get him to come home with us?' He tried to consider his responses to any statements and questions they would ask, any persuasions that would occur to them.

As he was marshalling his defenses, his mother began to cry and he felt his resistance start to crumble. Then he looked at his father and felt his resistance begin to grow. There was no way he could live in a house with that man again. Not now, after all that had happened, not after his father sided with that needy Potter boy over his own flesh and blood. He didn't need his family, just as his family didn't need him.


	4. Another Date and Charlie too

**AN: **This is an interesting story for me to write and I hope you like it. Please R/R.

Percy felt his stomach drop slightly. He had been sort of happy an hour before when he was with Luna. She made him forget the hole losing his family has left in his life. Now, with his parents before him, Percy was reminded that he longer had a family.

"I think you should leave." Percy said quietly. His mother and father looked at each other and at him, silent and surprised. "This is my life, and I will live it how I choose. We've renounced one another. Let's leave it at that."

As his mother's eye's welled with tears, Percy felt a stabbing feeling in the vicinity of his heart, but resisted the urge to accept his parents and their ways. If he accepted them, he would once more exist under his brother's, father's, and Harry Potter's shadows. He wanted people to see him and not his family and the only way for that to happen was to avoid his family.

"But, Percy." His mother paused and gathered strength to rush forward. "Bill is getting married next week. Please come." She beseeched him with her eyes. Percy avoided looking at her, or his father. He focused on the table before him and shook his head.

"No. Goodbye." Percy moved toward the kitchen door and opened it. His parents once again looked to one another before following Percy out of the flat and into the darkness of the night. His mother suddenly grabbed Percy tightly before releasing him and rushing, sobbing, into the night. His father paused, looked at Percy for a moment, then followed his wife, disappearing into nothingness.

Percy felt hollow, but resisted the urge to call after his now long gone parents and slumped into his kitchen, locking the front door several times. Percy did not want to die, or be attacked, but not staying in his flat was no longer an option. He would show his parents that he was an adult, even if they would never know of it.

Despite the hunger gnawing at his belly, Percy fell into bed without eating or disrobing. It had been a long day.

Percy awoke drenched in sweat. He rarely remembered his dreams, and the dreams he did remember were usually normal and boring. His recurring dream involved him, Janice, and a large pile of papers. What Percy remembered of this latest dream was that something had been following him. Percy was disgusted with his fear. Just because some beast was chasing you through the Ministry is no excuse to be afraid.

_Are you a Hufflepuff, or a Griffindor?_ He asked himself, turning over. Suddenly he remembered dreaming of Luna. She stood before him, at the end of a long, brightly lit corridor and smiled dreamily at him. The more he tried to reach her, the farther away she became. That was almost as scary at the fearsome beast who had chased him down a similar corridor in a later dream.

Percy got up as he normally did, making sure everything in his flat was in its place and siphoning away any dust, whether imaginary or real. As Percy sat down to a breakfast of oatmeal and pumpkin juice, he remember yesterday morning. He thought of the beast. There had been something oddly familiar about it and Percy was stunned to realize he couldn't remember what it was. His memory rarely failed him and he felt betrayed by its deficiency.

Percy looked on his bookshelf, but none of the books contained within had articles on amorphous beasts, he was sure of it. He must have read something about it in a Hogwarts class. Maybe Care of Magical Creatures, or Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Percy hated to contact one of his brothers about something so trivial, but he'd always been closest to Charlie and Charlie did know a lot about magical beasts. Percy grabbed some parchment and a quill and wrote, "Charlie, How are you? I'm well. I got a visit from our parents, and no I will not forgive them, so don't get started. I am gratified to hear that you have recently received a promotion. That is wonderful and I know you will become Supreme Commander of the Dragon Division in no time.'

'I hear our brother is marrying. As much as I would like to attend, it is impossible with the current state of relations between the family and myself. The other day, a friend of mine told me about some beast that could be in cloud form, but became solid and morphized into a more solid creature with 2 heads and a rather fearsome physique. Have you heard of such a creature. My friend is wondering if they are dangerous and would like to set up some precautions if they are.'

'Yours Sincerely, Percival Weasely."

Percy looked over the letter several times and made sure he'd gone on enough before asking the question. He didn't want Charlie to think he was fearful of some magical beast. Percy had always looked up to his next oldest brother Charlie. Although Charlie often did things with Bill, he also did things with Percy. Percy liked to think that he was Charlie's favorite brother because Charlie was certainly his favorite brother. Charlie never teased him meanly. Yes he had made Percy laugh at himself several times, but he hadn't really made fun like the twins had.

Charlie also protected Percy from some seventh year Slitherins who thought it would be fun to beat up the newest first year Weasely boy. Bill had made many enemies in his time and Hogwarts and had secretly dueled on many occasions. Percy had wanted to be like Bill, but was unsuited to dueling. His first opponent had broken his nose and turned unmentionable body parts green for weeks after, until Percy had the nerve to report it to Madame Pomfry and be cured. Charlie was also no good at dueling, but he'd been much better at physical fighting then Percy could have hoped to be and kept the worst opponents from picking on Percy.

Percy smiled slightly as he remembered tutoring Charlie in potions. His brother was a hopeless potion-maker who could never seem to get his potions quite right and even Percy couldn't help Charlie much. Charlie also never minded having a smarter younger brother, he was laid back and loyal to everyone in his family and Percy felt grateful to retain some family member despite the schism in his family.

He sent the message off with Hermes and apparated to work. He was actually running 30 minutes late, so he would be arriving at the office only one and a half hours early as opposed to two hours early. Percy sighed.

His workday progressed as expected, Janice left the little brat at home and Percy was eternally grateful to get any work done at all. Percy saw Luna again as he waited for the once again slow lifts and felt his stomach drop as he approached. He couldn't help but notice the wonderfully bobbing motion she made as she paced the halls, clearly agitated. Her thought she looked most fetching in her baggy blue robes, even though they obscured the svelte figure he knew lay beneath. As he neared her position, he felt the urge to kiss her again, but mastered it as he had so many others. He glorious hair fell in ripples down her back and he face shined in the torchlight emanating from the many torched set in the walls.

"Hi." He called to her while still halfway down the corridor.

Luna started toward him, but hesitated and looked cautiously about. He wondered why she looked around when suddenly she threw herself at him.

"You won't believe what I found today. It's a real Horgy nest. There are droppings and everything and it's down in one of the old courtrooms. Something is alive in the Ministry. I wonder who is keeping it secret." Words tumbled from Luna's mouth as she wrapped her arms around Percy. Percy was unsure what to do. They had kissed the night before, but he still wasn't sure he wanted to know her and wouldn't kissing her again mean he accepted her and all her ways and that they might have a relationship. What if someone found out?

Percy was still deciding what to do when Luna made the decision for him and kissed him square on the mouth. He became lost in the feeling of Luna in his arms kissing him and lost track of time and discretion, bywords of his life.

"Ahem." Percy jumped out of Luna's arms and hit the wall behind him. He caught Luna as she swayed, almost falling. He swirled around and caught sight of his brother, Charlie, grinning at him and Luna.

"Hate to interrupt, but I have some business with the brother of mine." Charlie walked forward and thrust out his hand. "Charlie Weasely."

Luna stared at his hand, the dreamy expression once again in her eyes. For a moment, Percy thought she would ignore his brother and he felt his skin turning an even deeper shade of red. He hated blushing.

"The horgies may find us. I found their nest today and they may attack. I will not come near you because they may trace my scent and kill you." Luna said this while leaning into Percy's arm as it circled her shoulders. He had tried to surreptitiously remove it when he saw that Luna was once again steady on her feet (he couldn't help grinning to himself about that), but Luna moved with him where ever he went and Percy accepted her need to be near him and figured Charlie would tell no one of this.

"This is Luna Lovegood." Percy told Charlie, and let it at that.

"Listen, I have to talk with you privately." Charlie had a look in his eye that plainly told Percy it was family business and not wanting to be engaged in family business, Percy tightened his hold on Luna who looked up dreamily into his eyes and smiled at him. He was not having a private talk with Charlie until he couldn't help it.

"I'm afraid Luna and I were just going out. It'll have to wait." Percy guided Luna toward the stairs, giving up any hope of the lift's arrival before work hours of the subsequent day. Luna simply squeezed Percy back and walked along with him, completely accepting the incorrect assertion of a previous engagement.

"Luna, do you mind if I tag along. I get to spend so little time with my brother." Charlie grinned at Luna and Percy felt her lean farther into him. If she leaned much further, they would be walking sideways.

Luna said nothing, but quirked her head to the side and looked at Charlie, who took her silence for assent.

"Thanks." He said, atypically shortly, and followed them down the stairs silently. Charlie was the more gregarious brother, except when compared to the twins who made Charlie look positively sedate, and today he said almost nothing. Percy thought his brother also looked older than his 22 years and gray and tired in his face. Percy felt concern and wondered what was wrong with his brother. Charlie lived in Romania, far from the Who He Who Must Not Be Named thing.

The trio proceeded to the atrium before deciding where to go.

Percy looked at Luna and decided not to go back to the Tavern. He considered. What was a place that few people frequented that he could take Luna and Charlie to? Linderman House popped into his head. It was a quiet family restaurant located in a little town just South of London, Pepperdon.

"We're going to Linderman House." Percy said and detoured toward the hearths. It was rude to apparate when your date had to use floo powder, so he'd go ahead and use the floo powder too. Percy was surprised to feel only slightly put out to not show off his apparition skill to Charlie.

"I'll go first, then Luna can come. Will you be using the floo network too?" Percy asked Charlie, ignoring the still silent Luna. She looked at him in wonder as he smiled down at her. What other girl would let him tell her where they were going, and what order they would use for the floo network?

"Yes." Percy jumped as Charlie looked at the duo with a smile in his eyes and on him face.

"Okay." Percy said as he grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the hearth. "Linderman House." He yelled.

Percy coughed slightly and looked around the brightly lit restaurant. It seemed awfully busy for a Thursday night. It was usually only this packed on the weekends. He saw his boss Janice out of the corner of his eyes and ducked behind a houseplant. What was he to do? He couldn't be seen with Luna? What would that look like? What would that do to his career? He saw his future floating down the toilet as he watched Janet and her husband, Alex and the little monster laughing together over their dinners. He tried to think, but felt too panicked. There had to be something he could do. What if he simply hid and let Luna and Charlie share a dinner on their own? He felt a hot emotion oddly like jealousy rear up within him at the thought of Luna going out with anyone else.

Percy breathed in through his nose and wondered where Luna and Charlie were. He suddenly heard a whoosh and Luna appeared, moving quickly out of the hearth and looking around. Percy felt torn. What should he do?


	5. Percy goes home

**AN:** The weather is beautiful. I cannot believe how wondrous it is after the weeks of cold and rain. We've been in the sixties for the past few days and I know temps plummet tomorrow and we're supposed to get rain. Anyway, I am inspired to take Percy and Luna outside for a bit. Enjoy!

Percy reached for his courage as it coiled around his soul and grabbed it. He moved cautiously from behind the table, toward Charlie and Luna. Maybe everyone would assume Luna was Charlie's date.

Luna smiled at Percy and Charlie quirked a brow questioningly. Not meeting Charlie's eyes, Percy flagged down the proprietress, Yvonne. She strolled over to them and smiled.

"Just 3 then?" She asked.

"Yes." Percy nodded.

The trio followed the rather dumpy, brown haired witch to a table near the far wall. Candles flickered on the tables and Percy shivered slightly. _Candles are a serious fire hazard_, he thought.

"Tonight we're serving seared bowtruckle a la doonie with braised oranges to start and some wonderful flan for dessert." Yvonne smiled as they sat down and she waved her wand above their table and glasses of water and bread appeared. "I'll be out with the oranges in a moment. Enjoy your meal."

Percy thought she seemed more distracted then normal and again looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of place, but he watched Yvonne as she moved between the tables. She was moving less steadily then normal and Percy thought she might be drunk. He looked at the bread in front of them and hesitated. Maybe Yvonne had conjured it wrong if she were drunk…

Charlie had already grabbed a slice and bit into it. He sighed as he savored its wholesome goodness. Luna looked at the bread and looked at Percy. He smiled reassuringly at Luna. If there was anything wrong with the bread, Percy would know it within minutes. Luna smiled dreamily as though she understood, although Percy knew she couldn't.

Charlie polished off his bread with a guzzle of water. Some started dripping down his face and Percy started at the rivulets. Had Charlie lost all manners in the wilds of Romania?

Suddenly Charlie dropped the goblet of water and shook his head. His eyes were wide and staring as he looked beyond Percy, into some darkness invisible to the others.

Percy leaped forward as Charlie fell in a heap onto the table in front of him. The water was knocked askew and the bread was flattened as Percy grabbed Charlie's shoulders and shook him. He noticed that few of the other diner paid attention to the commotion arising from his shaking his brother and leaping across a table. He looked a little closer at the tables around him and noticed that the other diners were laughing, but their faces were not amused. They seemed to feel nothing as they dined and looked outwardly normal. Percy left his unconscious brother on the table, as he knew no cure for his ailment, and grabbed Luna's hand.

She stood up and continued to look around, not seeming in any way surprised. She looked as though she saw scenes like this every day. Luna gracefully moved around the table, closer to Percy and he pulled her after him toward the kitchen door. Placing his finger to his lips, Percy inched closer to the door, now ignoring the other diners. He and Luna stood outside the closed door and looked at each other.

_I really hope nothing happens_, Percy thought. He let go of Luna and motioned for her to remain while he grasped the door handle and slowly inched it open. He leaned close to the crack and peered within.

The kitchen was deserted except for Yvonne. She was standing quiescent beside a humongous stove. Percy looked around the kitchen one last time and turned back to Luna. He motioned her back to the table.

There was no way Percy was preceding further into this enchanted house. This was a situation for a squad of medi-wizards or aurors, not a member of the Misuse of Magic Office.

He grabbed Charlie about the shoulders and pushed him to where he sat up in his chair. Charlie was unaffected by the grunts and pulls of Percy and Percy knew he must thence be under some deep, mayhap dark, enchantment. Percy looked at Luna, who was watching him with curious eyes. Percy had the feeling she was waiting to see what he would do. He smiled at her and shrugged before waving his wand at his brother.

Charlie rose into the air and Percy walked toward the fires, Luna and Charlie's body following. Percy began to wonder if something was wrong with Luna. He couldn't picture his sister, Ginny, allowing anyone to tell her what to do, or to fail to give advice even when not asked. He had heard some gossip of Luna Lovegood and knew she was a friend of his sister's and that they were in the same year and that Luna was a Ravenclaw. He also knew she was often teased and spoke of many outlandish theories. Why was she not giving him any theories about mythical beasts, or conspiracies between Yvonne and Voldemort?

He looked deeply into Luna's eyes and noticed they were slightly vaguer than normal. He grasped his was firmly in his right hand and cast "Huriger enchante." Luna fell to the floor and lay silent. This was not a good sign. He looked to his brother and Luna before grasping both by the arms and disapparating to a safer location, The Burrow.

"What!" Percy turned and saw his younger brother, Ron, sitting up in bed. "Percy." His voice was high.

"Yes, I need to see the parents." Percy looked down his nose at his little brother and flicked his wand at Luna and Charlie. Their bodies followed him as he walked through his childhood home. It was as derelict and cluttered as he remembered.

"Percy!" His mother had been sitting on a fluffy, overstuffed armchair while knitting. Percy saw the balls of yarn continuing to work as his mother enveloped him in a big hug. "You came."

Percy tried to pull away, and after several attempts was allowed to by his mother. He gestured to Charlie and Luna and before he could say anything, his mother has gasped.

"Charlie." She said in a broken voice. "Is he okay?" She grasped the front of his robes and shook his before raising her wand and casting some healing spells on him. Charlie remained unresponsive.

"I needed to take him somewhere." His mother nodded distractedly and looked at the clock along the wall.

"Yes, yes." She looked over her second oldest son feverishly. Percy could tell she was looking for anything abnormal. "Hmmm." She moved Charlie's hair away from the nape of his neck. There was a small, black dot residing just within the hair line. Percy grabbed his mother's wand to keep her from casting a spell. That would not be sensible.

"We've no idea what that is, it might attack us." She looked at him as though she had never seen him before and he felt a blush begin to rise on his cheeks. He looked at Luna, lying on the floor beside Charlie and then to his mother again.

"Who is this girl, and why is she unconscious on the kitchen floor?" His mother loomed over him, even though she was taller then him.

"This is Luna Lovegood." His mother gasped.

"She helped Ron, Harry, and Hermione in the Ministry a couple years ago." She looked more closely at him and then to Luna. Obviously deciding to leave it for now, she started looked Luna over. Lifting her hair, she discovered the expected black dot.

"We have no idea what removing that would do." Percy fell into a chair beside the kitchen table, much more cluttered then his own.

His mother nodded and started rummaging through her books. She grabbed, _1001 Magical Insects_. "It looked like an insect to me." She said, sitting down at the table and opening the hefty tome.

"I'll look at this," Percy said, grabbing _Musty Plants and Those Who Love Them_. He knew it was actually informative, belying the title.

The duo sat by the tables as several hours past. Neither found anything in the first books, nor the second ones. Percy was devouring the books, desperate to save his brother and Luna.

_Slam._

"We need help." His mother sat back in her chair and looked as though she was about to cry. "We've looked in every book in this house and none of them have helped. We need an expert on dark magic and medical magic."

Percy considered. No one he knew could be considered an expert in either subject, much less both.

"Cliff. The only answer." His mother said to herself.

"Who's Cliff?" Percy asked, although he wasn't interested in who if the man could cure Luna, and Charlie.

"An old friend. He used to be an auror, but now works at St. Mungos. Your father won't like it, but I can think of no one better to discover their ailment." She gestured to the quiescent duo.

"Fine, shall I call him mother?" Percy wanted to feel useful.

"No, I think I should do it. Can you move Charlie and Luna onto couches?"

"No problem." Percy flicked his wand at the duo as his mother left the room to make her secret communiqué. Percy was beginning to wonder where his father was. He had been at the Burrow for almost 8 hours, since late the night before and his father had never appeared. His mother didn't seem overly worried.

He stood up from the table and walked toward Luna's unconscious body. He reached forward and touched her cheek. Percy hoped Luna would be okay, he tried not to think about the possible consequences of that little black dot on her neck.

_What if it cut off all connection between her brain and her body? She would be unconscious for life._ Percy thought.

Percy backed away from Luna and Charlie, eventually hitting his back with the wall behind him. The kitchen seemed to grow smaller as he looked at them.The relief he had expected to feel when he got to his childhood home was absent. He felt hollow, drained. It was as though he was anywhere. He felt no relief at being here, where he had experienced joy and pain in almost equal quantities.

Percy shook his head and turned away from his brother and Luna. He would worry about them later, for now, he needed sleep. His lids were falling and he moved toward the parlor and the comfy couch contained therein. He barely shuffled onto the couch before collapsing into a drained sleep.

"Slam." Percy jerked awake, his hand going to his wand tucked into his pants and trying to move as little as possible. Whatever had entered the house, he did not want it to know he was awake.

"What ees this?" Percy looked up to see one of the most beautiful girls in the world peering down at him. He shook he head to clear it of cobwebs.

"H-Hello." Percy sat up suddenly and the girl backed away gracefully. He realized she looked familiar. "Fleur, yes, Fleur Delacour. It's nice to see you." Percy stuck out his hand and she shook it, looking somewhat surprised.

"You are related to my dear Bill's family?" Fleur smiled and Percy felt mildly impressed at her beauty. "You were a judge, right, for the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

"Yes and Yes." Percy felt his chest puff outward as he pushed a blanket from his knees. He had a feeling his mother had placed the blanket over him sometime during the night. "You performed well in the competition." As beautiful as Fleur was, Percy had never understood why the other boys had ogled her and why normally calm boys had become excited when she came near. There was something a little too alluring about her and he was uncomfortable with the feeling she felt emanating from her.

Percy looked around Luna and saw Bill standing, leaning against the wall. He had not seen Bill in a long time, since before he was attacked by a werewolf and announced his engagement. Percy hesitated before walked toward his brother.

Bill looked tired and careworn. His skin had a slightly gray cast and he did not smile at Percy, but looked through him.

"Hello Bill." Percy said, not holding out his hand.

"Percy." Bill said shortly, looking at Percy for the first time. Percy back away a step from the anger he saw in Bill's eyes.

Percy nodded at Bill and walked through the doorway into the kitchen. He grabbed an apple and started munching. By the time he was down to the core, Bill had left and Fleur had conjured up a cup of tea and was standing beside him.

Percy felt some other urges answerable only by a bathroom, so he left Fleur and used the facilities for many purposes.

Stretching his arms above his now clean head, Percy walked into the kitchen where the sight of Charlie and Luna still caused him to feel somewhat tense.

"Who ees this?" Fleur gestured to the duo on the table.

"This is my older brother Charlie and this is Luna Lovegood." Percy continued walking until he stood beside the duo perched on the kitchen table and looked down at them. He felt panic rise in his chest as he looked at Luna.

_She had to wake up_, Percy thought to himself.

"Hmm." Fleur looked from him to Luna and back before banishing her tea cup.

"Percy." He heard his mother call from another room as she moved toward the kitchen. "I think I may," she hesitated when she saw Fleur then plowed on. "I may know what's wrong."

His mother held a piece of paper in her hands and read it aloud. "My dear Molly." Her cheeks were red. "Ahem. This sounds like the poor people you described have been placed under a _Costa Luca_ spell. The small dot you describe," Fleur stood up straighter, "sounds like it could be a Torrance Bug. They keep short term mind control spells going past their expiration. They are also impossible to remove with the consent of the caster and even if you could remove it, it would probably put the spell onto whomever it touches. I'm sorry for the bad news. Yours, Pumpkin." His mother looked ready to cry.

Percy grabbed the paper and Fleur grabbed it from him. "This is not correct. You can remove the Torrance without the caster's permission, but it is difficult." Fleur looked like she was trying hard to remember something. "You need dragon blood and ordinary muggle flour. It is a simple paste you mix before placing it where the Torrance is. Is this what is affect ze people on ze table?" When Fleur got excited, Percy noticed her French accent become more prominent. He and his mother looked to one another before moving as one toward their cabinets. Percy grabbed a small vial of dragon blood while his mother searched the cabinets for flour. She gave up and conjured some.

"No that will not do." Fleur said. "The flour must be untouched by magic."

Percy looked at his mother and she disapparated for less than one minute.

"You will not ask where this came from." She told Fleur and Percy before setting the flour beside the dragon blood on her kitchen counter.

Fleur conjured a magic mortar and pestle after looking askance at her soon-to-be-mother-in-law's one. She placed the dragon blood into the pestle before grabbing her wand and saying "Hortus Morgello, " making a sweeping motion with the wand.

There was a faint orange light that began emanating from the blood and Fleur gradually started adding the flour until the color changed to a soothing, and brighter, green color.

"It's ready." Fleur conjured two vials and moved the blood-flour concoction toward the table-laying duo. "Where is the Torrance?"

"On the back of their necks, just inside the hairlines," his mother told her.

Fleur went to Charlie and lifted his hair. She stopped and looked vaguely frightened when she saw the bug. She quickly dabbed the concoction on his neck before raising the vial and placing it over the bug. It shot backward and Percy heard a small squishing noise when it hit the end of the vial. Fleur capped the vial and performed the same action on Luna. Both victims continued to lay quiescent, their necks cover in dragon blood and flour.

Fleur wiped the concoction off their necks before attempting to turn each onto his or her back. Percy leaped in to help and turned over Charlie. He saw that his brother's eyes now moved in their sockets and looked to see similar action in Luna's face.

"Will they awaken soon?" His mother asked Fleur, with respect in her eyes and voice.

"Before the evening if they will wake up at all." Fleur looked unconcerned banished the concoction, vials, and mortar and pestles.

Something didn't seem quite right to Percy and he looked closely at Fleur. He was extremely unaffected by her beauty, some would say ridiculously so. She was part vela after all. "Mother, let's not badger Fleur. We should simply thank her for her help."

Fleur smiled at him and he again felt unaffected. Percy couldn't banish the odd feeling as well as Fleur had banished the evidence of wrongdoing. That's when it hit him that Fleur was unlikely to know of some random bug and the spells to get rid of it when a ministry trained medi-wizard was unaware of it. And she had banished the evidence.

"I need to talk to you mother. Excuse us Fleur." Percy grabbed his mother and took her through the living room and out of the house.

"Did something seem odd about that to you too?" His mother asked.

"Yes." Percy looked behind them into the house and saw Fleur was still in the kitchen.

"Could she not be Fleur? Maybe Polyjuice Potion?" Percy looked to his mother in surprise because she had echoed his suspicion. "How can we find out? I don't want to make her feel unwelcome or insulted."

"I don't know." Percy put an arm around his mother because she looked so forlorn. "We'll find out who she is."


	6. Why it Would Never Work

**AN:** Well, the schemes and dreams ship continues. I hope ya'll are enjoying my fic. I think it'll be about 15 chapters by the end.

"For I'd never heard your voice or felt your wand before today." Percy heard the radio playing from the kitchen and turned over. He was sleeping in his old room and realized he did not miss it. The mattress was lumpy and old and smelled faintly of some concoction one of the twins had covered it with in the summer of Percy's 3rd year at Hogwarts.

Suddenly he sat up and rushed to the door, would Luna be awake? He flew down to the living room and slowed before entering it. He did not want to appear eager or worried to ANYONE. As he turned a corner into the kitchen, he held his breath… and released it when he saw Luna and Charlie calmly eating toast as though nothing had happened.

"Are you okay?" Percy said to Charlie while looking at Luna. He noticed she was paler than normal, but otherwise looked fine. The sunlight glistened off her somewhat tangled blonde hair.

"Fine. Actually got to idea what happened. Last I remember, we were about to go to the restaurant." Charlie rubbed his hand over his head. "Then I woke up on the table beside your girl Luna." Percy looked around to make certain no one had heard Charlie call Luna his girl.

"And you Luna." Percy said, still scanning the room. _Where was Fleur_?

"I'm well." Luna said nothing more on the matter. This surprised Percy because he assumed Luna would come up with some theory to explain what happened and he was actually looking forward to hearing her theory.

The trio looked at each other.

"What did we do?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing, you just acted differently." Percy sat down beside Luna and pulled a piece of toast from the pile. "Is mother up yet?"

"No, haven't seen her." Charlie looked toward the door as though expecting her to appear.

"Who made the toast then?" Percy munched happily on another piece of toast.

"Fleur." Charlie grinned. "Quite a looker Bill found, huh? And she can cook too."

"Yes." Percy pushed the toast away and picked up the plate of toast. "Where is Fleur?"

"She stepped out a few moments before you arrived." Charlie grabbed another piece of toast from the pile before sitting back down.

"Hmmm." For some reason, this made Percy upset. Something about Fleur was bothering him. Luna looked up at him and Percy thought he must look ridiculous covered with toast crumbs and holding a plate full of toast. He put the plate down on the counter and resisted the urge to hurt retreat. He sat back down beside Luna.

"I wonder if father has caught the Oggivanies yet." Luna was staring forward and her finger was tracing curves upon the table. Percy felt himself focusing on her finger as it lightly traced a design only she could perceive. Shaking his head, he resisted the urge to feel moved and turned toward Charlie.

"No idea." He said to Luna while looking at his brother. Charlie looked slightly more effected than Luna. He was also pale, but his skin was clammy and he was sweating a lot. He also looked as though in a fog while Percy looked at him. Charlie didn't seem to notice Percy staring at him.

"Maybe you should get some sleep." Charlie suddenly looked as though he was about to fall over.

"Yes, I'm so tired." Charlie arose slowly and shuffled from the room.

Percy inched closer to Luna. "Are you sure you're okay?" He looked into her eyes and felt a pull.

"Yes. I feel wonderful." She looked up to see into his eyes more deeply and leaned toward him. Percy felt himself lean into her and felt his mouth touch hers. A wealth of heat suffused his body and he enjoyed the kiss for as long as he dared. He leaned away from her, breaking the kiss, and she looked up at him, a light in her eyes.

"Hmmm." Luna sighed before humming tunelessly the tune that Percy assumed was "La la la la, and the Witch Came Home."

He felt rather then heard Fleur enter the room. He put his arm around Luna and looked at the interloper. Fleur went to the toast and banished it after grabbing a piece for herself. Percy felt a twinge in his stomach. Fleur looked at him and smiled and Percy felt the bottom drop from his stomach for the first time since arriving at his parent's house and seeing Fleur. This was the reaction he normally associated with Fleur. Why had he not felt it yesterday?

"How did you know Fleur?"

"Are you still wondering about that?" Fleur's laugh tinkled through the kitchen and she summoned a cup of tea before sitting in the seat Charlie had vacated. "I knew because this happened to one of Gabrielle's teachers last year. A death eater tried to control Madame Tissue, our deportment instructor. She fell unconscious rather than submit to being controlled and had to be revived. Gabrielle sent me letters explaining everything, including how to finish off the little beasties. I read all of my sister's letters because I love her so." She said this last with a fierce look on her face as though expecting Percy to disagree and say she hated her sister.

"Yes, that makes sense." Percy felt slightly foolish for suspecting Fleur of wrong-doing. She was little different from ever and had a good reason for knowing what she knew.

He took his arm from around Luna's shoulders and stood up. "We should be going." He said to Luna. "Your father will be worrying. I send him no messages."

He saw Luna's eyes narrow slightly. "You did not send him a note telling him of my ailment." Her voice had lost much of its dreamy quality.

"No, I was so worried for you and Charlie, I could not take the time to contact him." Percy also had not wanted anyone to see a communication between him and the editor of the _Quibbler_.

"You also did not want to send him a message." She stated, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. This drew Percy's eyes to her chest and he forgot for a moment what they were talking about.

"Yes." He said absently, more fixated on her chest than the conversation.

"Hmmm." Luna gave him a hard look, for her, and then smiled. She walked from the kitchen and Percy felt a little worried. Luna was very unpredictable and he had no idea what she would do. Percy liked to control situations, not be controlled by them. He looked at Fleur before following Luna from the kitchen.

Luna was rummaging in the front room for something and make a bit of a mess while doing it.

"Luna, what are you doing?" Percy tried to sound reasonable despite wondering what Luna was up to.

"I need to make sure no Hectares can read the message when it's intercepted." Luna said as though it were obvious.

"What's a Hectare?" Percy wanted Luna to be less upset at him for neglecting her father.

"A Hectare is a spell the ministry puts on all communications sent in Britain without the special ink used within. I need some floo power for the ink and a little pixie dust." She continued to rummage through the living room.

Percy spotted some floo powder above the hearth and grabbed it just as Luna found his mother's stash of pixie dust beneath the couch. Pixie dust was the housewives picker-upper when she had little time and his mother used it a lot.

"Here," he said, thrusting it at her. Luna declined to look in his direction and held the bowls of pixie dust and floo powder in her hands. She obviously needed some help but Percy wasn't sure he wanted to encourage her mad theories anymore and remained stationary. She maneuvered the bowls onto the coffee table and conjured a feather quill and some ink. The quill was spotted and bright green and the ink was purple and Percy wondered at the color combination. It was quite, vibrant.

Luna wrote a few words on a piece of parchment she found somewhere in the room and folded it up. She walked to the window and whistled loudly. Percy barely resisted the urge to cover his ears. An owl appeared from nowhere and landed on the windowsill. Luna reached into her pocked and pulled at a knut and placed it into the bag tied around the owl's leg. She then attached the message and said, "Goodbye, you sweet, large, owl of bliss." The owl sailed away. Percy looked at her askance for calling an owl a 'bird of bliss'.

Luna smiled brightly at Percy and he felt his heart begin to race. Maybe all the crazy things Luna did were not too bad.


	7. In which Percy Could have Died

**AN**: This story is thenceforth dedicated to me sister, who sat in the hot tub at 24 Hour Fitness with me whilst I talked through the story. Yes I will edit this entire story when it's complete. For now, I just want your input. What should I change? What needs improvement? You may R/R.

_Yawn_, Percy felt his eyes begin to close. He was sitting beside his mother while she told him about everything that was happening to the family in the past couple of years he had been absent. He had stopped paying attention after he heard, "And your brother…"

"Oh dear, it is getting late, we'll finish this up tomorrow." His mother stood up and gave him a hug before leaving the room. Percy stretched out on the couch, he felt so tired and lethargic. Why couldn't he be perfect? He shouldn't be this tired, even if he had practically no sleep last night and had been on an emotional roller coaster today.

Percy yawned again and pushed himself off the couch. He did not want another morning with Fleur and Bill in his face. After stumbling up the stairs to his room, he somehow walked past and stopped at Ginny's door. Luna was staying over that night because her father had written back saying he was busy at the Ministry and would not be able to come and get her. Luna had not seemed disappointed. Percy rather thought she had expected this response. He mastered the urge to peek in on her like some adolescent boy with his first crush. He couldn't see her, and he couldn't move away until he had seen she was still alright.

His strength was fading, Percy suddenly had no desire to do anything but sleep. He yawned again and smiled to himself. Maybe he would sleep outside Luna's door. He would awaken if anyone wanted to attack Luna and defend her. With visions of foolhardy heroism running amok, unchecked, in Percy's brain, he slid to the floor and fell asleep.

Percy awoke to a crash what seemed like minutes later. He was surrounded by darkness and a silence somehow thick with noise. He felt the lethargy fall from his shoulders as he became alert, unmoving. If something was moving down the corridors, he wanted to know about it before it knew about him, or at least knew that he was awake.

He heard a shuffle down the hallway and turned his head slightly to gain a greater view of the surrounding hallway. A shape was maneuvering around the many obstacles in the typically untidy Weasley household. Percy felt his breath quicken as he prepared to bring his wand hand up to challenge the noisy interloper.

The shape eventually became Fleur Delacour. Something seemed wrong to Percy still somewhat dream-filled mind. Fleur was whispering to herself vehemently and making jerky, un-Fleur-like gestures with her hands, one of which had a wand grasped firmly between her fingers.

As Fleur approached Luna's door, she hesitated and walked beyond toward the end of the hallway. The only room at the end was Percy's and he was suddenly happy to be crunched up outside Luna's door like a doleful, eager dog. Fleur opened Percy's door with her wand outheld and entered.

Percy edged toward his room, slowly and quietly. There was a sudden light and Percy smelt the odor of burning sheets, not one he held with much fondness due to too many Fred/George pranks as a kid. Percy stopped outside his door and peered in. Fleur stood silently looking at the ruin of a bed before her. Her head lolled back and forth and Percy though she would soon be dizzy from the exertions.

Percy pointed his wand at Fleur, "Imoblious extremetis." Fleur could no longer move her arms or legs, she stood frozen. Percy entered the room, still holding his wand before him. _Why would Fleur do this?_ He thought.

Percy suddenly sneezed loudly. He had no idea what to do with his sister in law immobilized in his room after trying unsuccessfully to kill him. He heard footsteps down the hall and backed against a wall that allowed him to see down the hall and Fleur. The shadowy shape soon emerged; it was Luna.

"Hello Percy." She entered his room, looking not at all surprised to see Fleur standing by the ruined bed. "Those darn Fire demons take no rest." She shook her head and started humming to herself, "My love is all for you tonight, unless you turn out to be a hag."

"Luna, Fleur did this to my bed." Percy felt a little frustrated with Luna's obtuseness.

"No she didn't." Luna quirked her eyebrow at Percy. "Why would she?"

"I saw her do it just now." Percy felt his voice rise.

"Hmmm, maybe someone wants you dead and cursed her to make her do it." Luna walked toward Fleur and poked her side. "What spell is that?"

"Imoblious extremetis." Percy said shortly.

"Ah yes, I should have known. She has the characteristic blue fingernails. You cannot leave people under the spell too long or they die." She said this in a matter-of-fact tone that made Percy approach Fleur and look at her fingers. Sure enough they were starting to turn blue. It was hard for Percy to see the color change in the darkness, so he lit the room's lamps with a flick of his wand.

"I suppose I could take away the spell. I've been waiting for her to speak." Percy looked at Fleur, who appeared not to hear their conversation.

Luna looked into Fleur's eyes. "This is not Fleur." She pulled her wand from beneath her robes; Percy tried not to think of where she pulled it from. That would be a distraction he sorely needed.

Luna considered before saying "dispersar" quietly into Fleur's ear. She also placed a hand on Fleur's bare arm. She repeated the incantation several times and each time waited 5 seconds before repeating. Suddenly Fleur's eyes cleared and she looked around the room in wonder.

"How did I get here?" Fleur shook her head. "Why can't I move?" Percy heard the panic in her voice, but Percy would not release her until he knew Fleur was not dangerous.

"Why did you try to kill me?" Percy said in a hard voice.

"What!" He could see Fleur fighting to free herself from the spell. "Why would I wan to kill you?" Percy suddenly noticed she was not speaking with a French accent.

"Where's your accent?" Percy moved forward to pull Luna away from Fleur.

"What accent. I speak normally, as I always have."

"You always have a French accent, not British." Percy folded his arms over his chest. He was still distinctly unmoved by Fleur's vela-ness.

"I've never even been to France, and I've certainly never had an accent from there."

"Give it up Fleur."

"What!" Fleur exclaimed. "I'm not Fleur."

"Well who are you then?" Percy was dumbfounded by the direction this conversation was taking.

"Tonks." The woman said.

"Who?" Percy wracked his brain for the name.

"Nymphadora Tonks. I'm an auror with the Ministry."

"Hmmm." Percy now remembered that there was a young auror named Tonks. He had heard some people laughing about her clumsiness during lunch one day. He had pitied her.

"Well Ms. Tonks, why would you attack me?"

"I don't know, it's all a mishmash. I feel confused."

Percy noticed her eyes were still a little dazed.

"I recognize her." Luna said. "From the attack in the Hall of Mysteries." Luna peered into Tonks' face.

"You do." Percy noticed Tonks' fingers were turning an unpleasant shade of purple. That probably wasn't a good sign. "Mobilious maximo." Percy said quietly. He did not want to wake his mother up or his father, if his father had ever come home.

Tonks winced as blood began to move once more in her veins. Percy kept his wand ready in case she decided to attack again. Tonks looked around the room and saw herself in a mirror. She lifted her hand and lowered it, watching the mirror. "Why do I look like Fleur Delacour?"

She touched her face once before shaking her head as though to clear it and screwing her eyes closed. She was concentrating so much, her face looked like it was changing. Suddenly, Percy was standing beside an ordinary looking young woman with bright red hair, similar to his sister, Ginny's. Her face was changed too and she no longer resembled Fleur in any way.

"Oh bother, how did this happen?" Tonks asked herself.

"And why did you try to kill me?" Percy asked.

"Where's the real Fleur?" Luna asked the room at large.

The trio sat down on the floor and stared into space, each thinking his or her own thoughts. The scent of burnt cloth was still strong in the room and it was starting to give Percy a headache. "Let's go down to the living room, shall we?" Percy stood up and extended a hand to Luna to help her rise. She smiled wistfully and took it, rising somewhat gracefully into the air.

Percy looked into Luna's eyes for a moment before releasing her hand. He felt heat wash over him as his skin touched Luna's.

"Ahem, I think we have some problems to worry about that won't be solved by the two of you looking deeply and morosely into one another's eyes." Tonks rolled her eyes and left the room.

Percy felt the corner's of his mouth twitch. "Shall we?" Luna nodded and released his hand, leaving the room. Percy took one last look at the ruin of his bed and shivered. He would be dead without his fixation on Luna. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.


	8. And They Gain a Second Wind

**AN: This chapter is dedicated to my cute baby nephew, Sid, may he grow to be a strong vibrant man in many years ;)**

Percy fell onto the sofa in the front room; Luna sat with more grace and a sigh beside him. Tonks paced the room; she looked distinctly odd to Percy now he thought of it. She was obviously distressed and kept muttering to herself and moved rather jerkily. He continued to grasp his wand firmly in case she regressed.

"I say, are you alright?" Percy asked.

Both Luna and Tonks looked at him as though he was crazy and Percy felt his ears begin to redden. He hated that and looked away, trying to think of something else to say. "I mean, should we get you help?"

"No, I need to focus and discover who did this to me and why?" Tonks drew out her wand and turned to the door. "I need to get out of here. If I discover anything, I'll let you know."

Tonks strode from the room and left the Burrow quickly. Luna leaned against Percy and he felt her entire body beside his. "We need to find Fleur." Luna said quietly, looking into Percy's eyes. "I hope she hasn't been captured by unicorns. They like to kidnap fair maidens before their marriages to keep them pure forever."

"I don't think unicorns would want Fleur." Percy said before he thought. He was remembering the look in his brother's eyes when he looked at the supposed Fleur the other morning.

"Hmmm." Luna stared at him.

Starting to feel uncomfortable, Percy backed away the few inches permitted on the couch and cleared his throat. "I suppose we could try to find Fleur, but if it gets too dangerous, you must go to the Ministry and tell them what has happened. It is a little foolish not to tell them what has happened." Percy looked morosely at the clock on the wall and the hands pointing to 'mortal peril'

"But the Ministry could be responsible for her disappearance. Maybe someone within the ministry ordered the assault. Tonks could have been overcome easily in the Ministry. Who would keep their guard up when surrounded by friends? Maybe you know someone you can trust at the Ministry whom we can turn to for help?" This was rather a lot for Luna to say and Percy found it surprisingly logical and coherent. He stared with surprise living in his eyes at the blonde sitting beside him. Just when he thought she could no longer surprise him, she did.

"Yes, I don't really trust anyone at work. I spend all my time trying to rise above the others so my work will be appreciated and my career can progress." His life's ambition suddenly seemed rather lonely to Percy. "Well, we'll get nothing done hanging around here. Let's consider why they would want me dead on our way to Diagon Alley. I think Bill should know what's happened."

Percy grabbed the floo powder beside the ever-ready fireplace and waited for Luna to uncurl herself from the couch.

"Percy, it's 1 in the morning. Bill will not be at work and we should be asleep." Luna yawned and stood. The whole thought of a bed and Luna was a lot for Percy to digest at this time of night. He forgot to feel embarrassed for not taking the time into account for the investigation. Now that Luna mentioned it, Percy felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him and he had trouble keeping his feet beneath him.

"I'll sleep on the couch. You go on up and I'll see you in the morning." Percy eyed the couch before walking back to it and grabbing a blanket from a nearby chair.

"Mmm Hmmm." Luna walked to Percy and smiled up into his face. She quietly leaned forward a bestowed a kiss upon his brow. Smiling faintly, she ascended the stairs into darkness leaving Percy to his thoughts and fears and less than sleepless night.

Percy settled into enjoy the night, constantly replaying Luna's kiss in his head leaving little room for thoughts of death and fire and tragedy.

Percy awoke to his mother singing as she prepared breakfast.

"And I'll be there even when the fire starts and defend you from the villagers afar. We'll make our own future and freeze fires together my dear." Percy hated that song and tried to cover his ears with the blanket.

"Come now, wake up, I've been waiting an hour to greet you." Percy heard his father's voice and cringed slightly before throwing the blanket from him and sitting up. His attempts to smooth his hair down was met with a knowing glance from his father.

"Hello father." Percy said primly. "I trust you are quite well. You've been oddly absent from the house of late."

His father eyed him suspiciously, as though afraid his son would start yelling, or fighting again. "I am well, I've been away on business for the Order."

"Oh yes, the precious Order." Percy stood and folded the blanket under which he had lain placing it upon the couch and turning once again to his silent father.

"If you will excuse me." Percy bowed to his father and moved toward the stairs.

"I noticed your bed had exploded. You are not hurt?" His father looked concerned.

"I am fine. Think nothing of it." Percy continued his ascent. It bothered him slightly that he and his father spoke like strangers, but perhaps they were strangers to one another. Who ever truly knows another?

He walked down the corridor until he reached the bathroom and performed his morning ablutions. He then knocked on Luna's door. She answered with sleepy eyes and smiled at him. He felt a punch to his gut that created no pain, simply stole his breath. He held his arm out to Luna, who took it. "Well shall we go to breakfast?" He asked as he led her down the stairs.

"I could kill a crumple horned snorkack." Luna dimpled up at him and they descended the stairs and proceeded into the kitchen. Percy no longer worried that his family saw him with his arm interlaced with Luna's. They would tell no one and it seemed petty to worry for appearances amongst his family when he could have died the night before.

Hi mother and father were sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of toast and sausages before them. Little pots of jam and marmalade and the occasional pat of butter and knife were clustered around the food. Percy felt suddenly ravenous and inhaled 6 pieces of toast in quick succession.

Luna ate only slightly more daintily, Percy though the time she spent under the spell may have made her more eager for food because she ate more than he had ever seen a girl eat. Even Ginny with her humongous appetites could not compete. Certainly Penelope's appetite was most birdlike. She would eat very little at meals, but ate frequently to make up for it.

His parents watched the two of them eat until Luna and Percy completely their respective meals and stared back at his parents. Suddenly he heard the unmistakable sound of large feet hitting the stairs. He made one last effort to eat some toast because he knew his brother would inhale the remaining toast and sausages, especially if he felt the same effects as Luna and ate even more than normal.

"Ho." Charlie yawned as he sat beside Percy and grabbed the platter of toast. "Sup' Percy. Heard something weird from your room, but I didn't want to bother you." He began eating the sausages as fast as he possibly could and Percy looked away, his eyes falling on his mother whose eyes were filled with tears. She looked reasonably happy to Percy yet her eyes filled with tears.

"It's okay mother." Percy said, avoiding Charlie's eyes and question while he looked at his mother. "We're fine."

"For now, what about the next attack tomorrow? Or the next after that? What would I do if one of you died?" His mother buried her head in her husband's shoulder and sobbed loudly. Charlie and Percy looked to one another then to their father who was busy smoothing his wife's hair and making soothing noises at her.

Charlie and Percy both arose and gestured at the dishes at the same time. The dishes exploded in midair and their mother gave a hiccupping laugh, her face still buried in her husband's shoulder.

"I'll take care of the kitchen. You two settle in the front room. Your father and I wish to speak to you. Shouldn't you be returning to your Father Luna?" His mother flung herself from her husband and was busily cleaning the kitchen while making commands.

Luna looked at Percy who shrugged helplessly. Percy didn't know what to say. This would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of Luna. Since arriving at the Burrow, his feelings for her had grown exponentially. He knew the smart thing to do would be to send her back to her father and the Ministry while he sorted out the dangers and distanced himself from feelings for her. A relationship with Luna Lovegood would NOT help his career.

Luna looked away from Percy and to his mother. "I'm staying to help Percival with his investigations." He smiled slightly as Percy's mother stared at her. Luna hummed beneath her breath, "We'll always have Hogsmeade, and all those other pubs."

"You are not investigating anything." His mother looked like an avenging angel. "You are much to young and inexperienced to even consider it. I do not want the deatheaters to kill you!" She slammed a cupboard shut and turned to look once more at the three yound people standing before her. "We'll leave this whole situation to aurors to figure out."

"Don't you think they're a little busy right now Mom. And we are adult wizards who've been out of school for years." Charlie looked proud of himself.

She turned a gimlet eye upon him and he shrank slightly beneath her gaze. "Luna is still in school. You should think of her before you go haring after dark wizards and evil plots."

"I've quite a lot of experience fighting. I did go to the Department of Mysteries, was a member of Dumbledore's Army, and defended Hogwarts from the deatheaters a couple of months ago." Luna stood before his mother and looked into her eyes. "I am their best chance of survival, so don't count me out." With that, Luna smiled dreamily and glided behind away from his mother, still humming some wretched song or other that Percy could not hear from across the room.

Percy was surprised Luna had done so much to fight Voldemort, looking at her slight figure, he was proud of her, until he considered that she had worked with Harry Potter to accomplish her great deeds. He was rather more irritated now and looked askance at Luna, thence turning to his mother.

"I think Luna's father may need her. We are keeping the man from his child." He looked pointedly at Luna who showed no reaction. "We don't need you, go back to the Ministry." He told Luna as he walked toward her, drown to her despite knowing he should not be.

"Goodbye." Percy looked down at Luna, drinking her in before turning away and striding to Charlie. Grabbing Charlie's arm, he disapparated into Diagon Alley.

The crack resounded around them, but few people reacted on the deserted streets of Diagon Alley.

"Let's get Bill." Percy told Charlie as he dragged his brother into Gringotts, towering munificently before them.


	9. In which Tonks can't clean

**AN: The future of this story is based around book 7, so there will be some spoilers. If you haven't read the last book, please do!!!**

Percy let loose his brother's arm as he strode forward toward Gringotts. Leaving Luna had filled him with determination to finish this business. He would never be free unless he found those who tried to destroy him.

"That wasn't good of you." Charlie ran a bit to catch up with his longer legged brother.

Percy shook his head. He had to protect Luna. He was terrified she would go through another dark battle and die. He had no idea what his feelings for Luna were, but he certainly didn't want her dead. "She should be with her father, not us."

"I see." Charlie walked in front of Percy, into the grandiose doors of Gringotts. Percy hurried to keep up and was impresses as always by the weighty feeling he got when entering Gringotts. It was a mixture of envy, longing, greed, fear, and determination and not a restful feeling. It made him want to become important rather than be a nobody like his father who was a nobody and was happy about it.

Percy continued to trail Charlie until they stood before an old goblin. "We're here to see Mr. Weasley." Charlie sounded as though he spoke to goblins in financial institutions every day.

"Let me see if he is available." The goblin turned his beady eyes on Percy and stared for several moments before stabbing his finger into the desk before him. "Hmm."

Percy was dismayed to be under the scrutiny of this wizened, skinny, green, big headed, crusty goblin. The gravely voice matched the graveling skin on his head and he wore the dark flowing robes of his kind with a sort of casual air. Percy wondered if this goblin was a rebel and that was why he was forced to man the front gates of the building even in dangerous times rather than work with the real gold and treasures.

Percy's ruminations were interrupted by the sound of human shoes treading behind him. This was the only warning he got before he was turned around and felt his world begin to darken, the pain was felt distantly as he fell into unconsciousness.

The water trickling down his nose was not a pleasant way for Percy to awaken. It felt like ice against his rather overly warm nose. When Percy opened his eyes, it was to see Charlie leaning over him with a wet cloth in his hands and there was blood on it. Percy tried to look at his nose, but found it impossible.

"What happened?" He croaked as he sat up, feeling a little dizzy he was tempted to lay back down until…

"I did. You said some horrible things to Dad and Fleur has disappeared. Last I saw she was with you. What did you do to her? Where is she?" Bill looked slightly desperate.

"What!" Percy had no idea how much to tell Bill and it occurred to him that leaving the house so precipitously meant Charlie was also clueless as to the whole story. He tried to buy some time. "I fought with father. We have different opinions on many subjects." Percy flicked dirt from his robes and stood straight, eyeing Bill while he attempted to correct his appearance.

"Where's Fleur?" Bill looked dangerous as he gripped his wand. "I never thought you would or could do something to her, but you aren't the brother I knew anymore so anything is possible."

Percy tried to think, but the ringing in his ears was starting to make that impossible. He was having trouble stringing words together. "I don't know." Was all Percy could think of and as a retort it was somewhat lacking.

"Try again." Bill smiled in a way that had no humor, but showed his teeth in a wolf-like way. Bill was different from what Percy remembered. There was an almost animal air about him.

Percy rubbed his head. The ringing was subsiding, but since he could think, he knew he had to think of something fast. "I don't know where she is."

"That's true; he said earlier we had to come here to see you." Charlie looked with concern on the rapidly darkening skin wound Percy's right eye. It was going to be black as coal soon.

Percy couldn't think, so he settled for the truth. "I haven't seen Fleur in a long time. She wasn't the one who spent the night at the house." Percy rubbed his nose and his hand came away with flecks of blood.

"I dropped her off at the Burrow myself. Are you saying I don't know my love." Bill glared at Percy, but Percy felt the animal edge waning as Bill regained control.

"I don't know, but she tried to flambé me in my bed last night. Thankfully I had not yet retired or you would be short a brother and you may not mind that, but I would." Percy grabbed a handkerchief from his robes and blew his nose. He looked away from the bloody mess that had been his pristine handkerchief.

"What! Fleur would never."

"It wasn't Fleur." Percy interrupted his sputtering brother. "It was Tonks under the Imperius curse." Percy was deadpan as he waited for the blowup.

Bill hesitated, looking bug-eyed at Percy. "That explains so much. She's been really distant and distracted for the past week. I've asked her about it and it's always nothing." His brothers role their eyes and nod. "Now I know why, it wasn't Fleur. So where is she, and where's Tonks. Maybe she can help."

"She left after we lifted the curse, she seemed to feel she'd have better luck on her own." Percy waited watchfully for the blowup that did not arise from either brother.

"Yes, I noticed last I saw her, or who I thought was her, that she wasn't as alluring as before." Charlie looked to his brothers. "How are we going to find Fleur?"

"Let's try to trace her last steps." Percy felt comfortable conjuring some parchment and healing his black eye now that Bill wasn't anxious to kill him. "When exactly was she different?"

"She changed last Tuesday after coming home from visiting with a friend in France. I think the friend was Mariseille something or other. It was French. I think the friend lives in Paris."

The trio looked to one another. Paris was a big city to canvass, even when looking for a girl as breathtaking as Fleur.

"How long was she with the friend?" Percy took notes.

"I think she was just there for the afternoon because I saw her that morning and she was planning to call in sick to work so she could see her friend, but that she had some work to do before she could leave town. And she brought me lunch and she seemed normal then. It had to happen in Paris. I think she apparated straight from Diagon Alley to her friend's hose because she sad she didn't need to walk much in those ridiculous shoes she was wearing to show off to her friend." The brothers roll their eyes collectively.

"Okay, so if she apparated to her friend's home that must be where she was attacked. Bill, we need to know who Mariseille is." Charlie looked over Percy's shoulder at the notes he was writing.

"Bill, where does Fleur live?" Charlie asked.

Bill looked slightly abashed. "She keeps an apartment at Keinster Square, Number 24. Let's go and see if we can find her friend's direction."

The three older Weasley brothers left Gringotts, Bill barely saying goodbye to his boss in his haste, and soon apparated to Fleur's erstwhile abode.

There were clothes strewn everywhere in the white and gold decorated apartments and empty dishes abounded. Bill looked around in shock. "I've never seen her apartments this dirty. Now I know it must have been Tonks who lived here because Fleur would never live in such disarray." He looked vaguely disheartened by the news.

Percy shuddered to himself to be in such an untidy space. He liked things to be neat and orderly and this room exemplified an alternative ideal.

"Well, Tonks was under the imperious curse, maybe it kept her from tidying." This excuse sounded weak to Percy even though he had uttered it and Bill must have agreed because he looked at Percy as though Percy had given him a thousand galleons.

"Okay, so we need to go to France, that's the logical next step." Percy said pompously, looking down on his brothers, daring them to disagree.

Charlie and Bill looked at each other, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.


	10. They can't find Fleur

**AN: Fair warning, it gets a bit darker.**

Bill, Charlie, and Percy appeared inside a shack. It was darkly lit and Percy noticed many strange shapes. 'Lumos,' he said quietly. The three brothers looked around themselves. They were surrounded by broken magical objects and various other detritus of the magical world.

Charlie moved to pick up a cracked sneakoscope, but Bill grabbed his arm. "Let's touch nothing, shall we." Percy considered Bill's greater experience with curses and silently agreed that now was not the time to be cursed, although he also secretly wondered if any time was good to be cursed.

Percy's wand revealed a door on the far wall. They looked at each other. "I don't suppose this is where we were supposed to appear?" Charlie asked Bill.

"No, we were supposed to appear in the middle of a bright road. There are several street cafes and Fleur's friend is the daughter of the owner of one." Bill chanced a step forward and when nothing happened, he began to move forward cautiously. "Follow my footsteps." Charlie moved behind Bill and Percy went last.

When they arrived at the door, Bill cast "Alohamora." They heard a click that seemed somehow magnified in the muffled quiet of this junk room.

Bill took a deep breath and all three brought their wands up. "Wait!!" Percy whispered. He cast "Incantatum Revelo" to reveal any spells, to no reaction. "I don't suppose anyone has some extendable ears."

Charlie grabbed some flesh colored string from his pocket. "Do you think they'll work on this door.?" He said, handing it to Bill.

Bill shrugged and ran the string under the door. Bringing the other end of the string to his ear, he paused and listened for several moments. He looked back at his brothers and nodded. The coast seems clear. I can't hear anyone on the other side. He retrieved the extendable ears and handed it back to Charlie. He grabbed the door handle and the brothers again held up their wands as Percy pushed open the door cautiously. They entered an empty chamber.

There was nothing in it to indicate where they might be. The floor was a gray stone, as were the walls and ceiling. The chamber was very cold and damp. It felt to Percy as though they were underground. It reminded him of a camping trip with his friend from Hogwarts, Gordan Chen. They had climbed down into a cave and Chen had fallen and broken his leg. Thankfully Percy's levitation spell worked fine and the duo returned to camp safely.

The door on the far wall was wooden and glowing slightly from Percy's spell_. It must have been just within the radius of the spel_l, Percy thought.

Bill almost ran to the door and stopped a couple feet shy. Charlie and Percy were slightly slower, but still managed to reach the door. The trio stared at it. "I wonder what spell that is." Charlie wondered aloud.

Bill made a gesture in the air and the door turned a bright green. "Cursed" He said shortly. He approached the door and started examining it with his eyes. "I think this is the Tomb-raider's Curse. It's extremely popular in America. If anyone touches this door, it will send a bolt of lightning through us until we fall unconscious. It won't kill us, but we will fall unconscious and make plenty of noise. We will be discovered."

Percy said what he and Charlie were thinking. "And the solution is…"

"Be quiet while I try to remember." Bill rubbed his wand against his head. "Katamaran" He said and gestured to the door, the green light faded into gold. "Well, the curse is gone, but there's still some sort of magical enchantment on it." Charlie and Percy moved forward for their own examinations. Percy noticed a string, light as spider web running from the top of the door to the ceiling. He waved at it and both brothers looked up.

"Aha!" Charlie said, "The byproduct of the flitter fly. If we touch it, we will fall asleep. I suppose it will fall down if we open the door. Incendio." He said languidly.

Percy and Bill grinned at each other and Charlie. The door had lost its light and now looked like a normal door.

Percy reached forward to open it. Bill and Charlie hang back, wands at the ready and nodded to him. As Percy opened the door, he was aware of a rush of hot air hitting his face before he noticed the caverns beyond the door. He quickly closed the door, to where it was only slightly open. There was a group of wizards dressed in black talking together not 10 feet from the door. None seemed to notice its movement as they were embroiled in rather a heated debate.

"Plans are proceeding as expected, there is no need for more drastic measures." One tall witch stated.

"No need, but since when do we need a reason to kill mudbloods?" A heftier witch cackled and gestured to a small group of obviously abused prisoners. Percy hadn't noticed these wretched creatures until the witch gestured to them. They were wearing dirty rags and matted hair and none had any life left in their faces. They stood before the powerful witches and wizards and stared at the floor.

"Target practice, eh?" An older, somewhat sinister wizard said. "We should let them lose and get them moving so we can practice hitting moving targets."

"Oh, have it your own way." The first witch said and threw her hands into the air. She stalked off, mumbling to herself. She moved toward the door behind which the brothers stood. They moved away from the door and to the side quickly. When the witch walked through the door and after closing it. She hesitated and looked up. "That Barnabus never remembers to reset the curses." She was still shaking her head when Percy gestured to her and yelled "Imobilius" in his head. She crumpled to the floor and Charlie used another silent spell to tie her up.

"Alright." Bill said. "There's 3 wizards left. Fleur may not be with the mudbloods, but her friend is. She's the one with the brown hair toward the back of the group."

Percy was vaguely aware of the impression of a tall, dark haired girl hanging back and staring at her fellow prisoners rather than at the floor.

"You go right," Charlie told Percy. "I'll go left and Bill should go down the middle. Aim for the wizards on those sides." Bill and Percy nodded and all moved toward the door. Charlie grabbed the handle and took a deep breath before thrusting it open.

Percy aimed for the witch on the right. "Imobilious" He said and the wtich fell. While he took care of his witch, Bill took care of the wizard and Charlie the other witch. Within seconds the deatheaters were laying on the floor, unable to move, barely able to think. _Not that they really do think_, Percy thought, smirking.

Charlie tied them up as Percy and Bill approached the disheveled group cautiously. "Mariseille" He said. The dark haired witch looked up with hope in her eyes.

"Bill." She said, "Bill." She ran to him and threw he arms around him, jabbering all the time in French.

"Mariseille, please speak English, my French is poor and my brothers' nonexistent." Bill pushed her away gently.

"Of course." She spoke with a heavy accent. "Fleur and I were eating in Father's shop when these hooded figures came in and stunned us. When I woke up, we were in this cavern and there were many others. Most are now dead." Her eyes became arctic. "We will gain vengeance" she said, kicking one witch. "After they found out who Fleur was, they took her away. I don't know where. They left through that door." She gestured to another door, to the right of the one they'd just walked through and bent to take the wands from the fallen wizards, kept one, and gave the other two to fellow prisoners. "You may leave us here." She turned to her compatriots and continued jabbering away.

The three looked to each other, torn between leaving the prisoners here, where they might run afoul other deatheaters, and insisting they go to safety with all haste.

Never one for not giving his opinion. "You don't have time for that." He told the girl. "You need to get out of here and go into hiding." She quirked a brow at Percy and turned to him.

"You have no idea what we've been through. We've been threatened and tortured for the last two days, seen most of us destroyed. There was a little girl in our group. One of them cast the cruciatus curse on her for 2 hours. She couldn't take in anymore and started banger her head against that rock." The rock was covered with blood. "She did not survive." If possible her eyes became colder. "They will suffer before they die." She gestured to the wizards. Percy looked to Charlie, who was still staring at the rock. Then he looked to Bill, who met his glance and nodded.

"I understand." Bill said. "We will leave you to your vengeance." Percy pulled Charlie away, he was still staring at the rock. They stopped at the door.

"Revelo" Percy said and the door continued to look relentlessly mundane. This time, Charlie opened the door, a look of renewed purpose on his face. 


	11. Attemped Escape

The trio rushed into this latest room, wands at the ready and looked at the frozen faces of 2 darkly clad death eaters sitting at a table and eating roast pheasant and boiled turnips. Bill and Percy both said 'stupefy' toward the larger wizard while Charlie immobilized the second. This time Percy tied the death-eaters up while Bill examined the room. He smelled the roast pheasant and sighed.

"This certainly smells like Fleur's cooking, but I don't think she would boil a turnip. She hates the mushy, tasteless English food." Bill said this last with a strong French accent and laughed. "She has to be fine." The latest room the trio found themselves in was paneled in wood and filled with floating candles. It was a large room with many seats and tables. It was obviously some sort of dining chamber or meeting chamber.

Percy grabbed the immobilized wizard and stuck his wand on the man's throat. He kept it there. "If you call for help, I will kill you." He kept his face impassive to match the threat. "Where is Fleur Delacour?"

The man cleared his throat. "Who?"

"Don't be stupid." Charlie walked forward and loomed over the man. He glared down at middle-aged, somewhat dumpy wizard.

The man laughed. "The Dark Lord with crush you puny efforts at resistance." His voice rose as he laughed wildly. Percy jabbed his wand forward and pus-filled boils appeared on the mans face and spread over his body. He fell silent and started itching the boils, causing them to burst and create more boils.

"There is no known cure for this curse." Percy removed his wand from the man's throat and wiped it on his robes. The man looked quite disgusting now. This was a curse Fred had once cast on Percy after finding it in some old spell book. Thankfully, after seeing how painful it was, Fred cast the counter curse and Percy felt the sweet relief of a boil-less body.

The man began to yell silently since Percy had also quieted him. Percy could see the pain in his eyes, but did not allow himself to feel sorry for the man. He was a death eater who had killed many and tortured even more. He was also an obviously unintelligent and low-bred man with little to recommend him.

Bill moved forward and pressed his own wand to one of the boils, it burst and the man apparently screamed, the pus continuing to issue from the boil until it covered his arm, causing 20 more boils to erupt. Bill leaned forward and whispered, "You will answer our questions."

"Where is Fleur?" Percy moved his ward forward to press one of the boils, but not explode it. With pain and distaste etched across his face, the man nodded toward the far doorway, there was no door in it, but a sheer curtain. Percy nodded at Bill and stunned the man, not relieving his curse, but simply knocking him out.

The three men approached the curtain and moved it silently aside.

"If you want me to cook another pot and boiled anything I will scream." Bill rushed through the door and threw his arms around the sweaty and somewhat smelly, if beautiful, girl.

"Bill." That was the last thing wither Percy or Charlie understood since Fleur continued in French.

"Honey, I'm working on my French, but I couldn't understand a word you just said." Bill continued holding Fleur as rubbed his cheek against her hair.

Percy hated to break up their touching scene, but they really needed to get out while they still could. They could get answers to their questions later, in a safer place.

"Can we apparate?" Percy asked Bill. "I don't think so, Fleur?"

"Non, I mean no. They always had to leave to apparate away." The tears continued to flow down her perfect face. Her nose did not redden, it simply looked as tough water flowed from her red-less eyes.

Percy felt like rolling his eyes, but as that would confound his dignity, he contented himself with sighing, "And how do we leave here?"

Fleur straightened. "This way," she said stepping over the piles of pots and pans. "I was forced to cook like a muggle, " She said shuddering.

The four magical people walked through the entryway on the other end of the filthy kitchen. While the trio focused on Fleur, they hadn't noticed the stench emanating from the piles of dirty dishes and food that had been left out to spoil. Percy felt almost faint with the assault upon his senses. He looked at Charlie who was holding his hand to his mouth and nose as if to block out the smell.

Within minutes they'd left the kitchen and could breathe again. They walked cautiously down a deserted corridor and turned left halfway down it, into an opulently decorated study. "This is as far as I know, I saw them go through this door and not return." Bill grabbed Fleur around the waist and hugged her. "I love you." Bill kissed her and Charlie and Percy, deciding this might take some time, started searching the study.

A fire crackled in the fireplace and a leather chair sat before it. Percy had the strangest and rather intense desire to sit in it. He looked at Charlie, who was also starting at it. He shook his head, that would be too easy.

"Revelo." Percy said, gesturing with his wand to include the entire room. The chair began to glow, as did the fire, a bookcase, several books on the bookcase, and the desk in a corner.

"Hmm." Percy moved toward the bookcase. It looked like someone had cast a permanent sticking charm on it. Most of the glowing books were obviously enchanted because of the contents, but one book entitled _Muggle Services_ looked eminently mundane. The cover was an odd microfiber blue and there was nothing special about the pale brown lettering on the side.

He felt compelled to touch it and reach forward. As his fingers closed in on the volume, they began to itch. He pulled them back to rub against his shirt and relieve the itching. The father from the book his fingers traveled, the less itchy they were. He looked at his brothers who were still perusing the room and Fleur who was staring at the floor.She was obviously upset, but Bill was busy examining the chair that now glowed red in the firelight. Charlie was looking through the desk, but seemed to be finding nothing to judge by the frustrated look on his face. Percy sidled over to Fleur and continued to find himself less than impressed by her allure. He felt Luna's more protuberant eyes and graceful chin much more to his taste then the perfection on Fleur.

"Fleur, is there anything else you can tell us. Maybe something you heard or saw…" Percy trailed off as he saw Fleur consider his words.

"Non, I can think of nothing. I have been stuck in that kitchen for two days. Most of the time, I had no idea where I was and I knew Bill would come for me," tears began to fall down her face, "and I was so scared for him. I kept crying, they complained that the soup was too salty." Fleur hiccupped softly. Bill moved away from the chair and hugged her.

"I would never let anything happen to you. I love you." Bill closed his eyes.

"I love you too." Fleur said through her tears.

Percy felt extremely uncomfortable at the rampant public display of affection. He moved away from the couple and asked Charlie, "Anything interesting?"

Charlie held up a cauldron. "Why would they put a broken cauldron into the desk?" He shook his head.

"Well," Percy said pompously, "we tried to wipe out these thin bottomed cauldrons years ago. But the ministry has other focuses now and they have chosen to forgo cracking down on deficient cauldron makers." Percy felt overjoyed to tell his older brothers something they obviously didn't know.

"Ahem, Percy give it a rest. We need to get out of here." Bill pulled away from Fleur who rather reluctantly released him.

Percy felt his ears turning red, but he had to admit that Bill was correct. They needed to get out of this dark wizard's abode and the only way out was through this room. There was no way they could return the way they came, they had no idea how they came to be here in any case. Perhaps someone… Percy shook himself to focus on the task at hand.

"Wait, I think I heard them refer to levitating something. Perhaps a book?" Fleur looked over at Bill adoringly and he grinned at her.

"Okay, shall we start levitating." Bill gestured his want at the chair. When it lifted into the air, nothing happened except a pile of dust and dirt was revealed beneath it.

Percy gestured to the strange book. There was a crack as everyone was thrown to the ground. Within second, they were on their feet again. The room they were in was somehow different from the other one. The furnishings were identical, but it didn't have the same feel of magic.

"Revelo" Percy said quietly. Nothing happened. The room seemed to be entirely mundane with nothing magical to recommend it.

He looked at Bill and Charlie as they stood beside him. He suddenly noticed they were holding up Fleur who seemed to have fainted. Suddenly Bill laid her on the ground.

"Fleur." He whistpered harshly and held his fingers to her throat, he began to run his hands over her, looking for injuries.

"Colitus Reparo." Charlie said. "Hey, it works on dragons." He shrugged. Fleur began to stir. She looked up at the three men. Her eyes looked green in the firelight.

"Fleur?" Bill sounded hesitant. Fleur stood up, her blonde hair flowing in a nonexistent wind. Percy could feel heat and power radiating from her.

This was not a good sign.


	12. What's Up with Fleur

**AN: Sorry for the delay in updating. It's been a busy year or so, but I went back to reread it today and realize that I really like this story. Anyway, my apologies. I'm going to try to focus on it and finish it by the end of the year.**

Charlie glanced sideways at Bill. "Is this normal for Fleur?"

Bill glared at Charlie for a split second before returning his attention to Fleur. Her eyes were now closed and she seemed to be silently chanting and the feeling of heat and power grew around the brothers. Percy began to sweat down him neck he sidled toward Charlie as Bill seemed in a daze.

"Should we interrupt her?" Charlie asked.

"No, she would release a staggering amount of power and we might be destroyed." Percy tried to force his awesome intellect to work, but he couldn't seem to focus on anything for long. Everytime he tried to figure out what Fleur could possibly be doing, he was distracted by the light and heat engulfing the room.

"Okay, bad idea then..." Charlie trailed off. Suddenly the light grew ten time brighter and the temperature 10 times cooler. They began to shiver.

Percy tried to move his now leaden legs. He got one step closer to Fleur before losign all feeling in his extremities. "Charlie, try to move away." He tried to say around numb lips. He tasted blood in his mouth and realized he'd bitten his tongue.

Charlie started to back away slowly and circle around Fleur and his motionless brothers. He didn't attempt further conversation with Fleur or his brothers while he considered a possible spell. Nothing occurred to him. He grinned and decided to channel his inner Dad and do it the muggle way. He backed up to the furtherest wall and raced forward, sailing through the miasma surrounding Fleur and tackling her to the ground. There was another bright flash before the room returned to its comfortable temperature and lighting level. He lifted hisself off Fleur and looked at Percy and Bill. They were laying on the ground, breathing harshly. As Fleur was uncounscious, he crawled to the closer Bill. Bill's eyes were wide and he couldn't seem to get a proper breath. His skin was turning purple.

_Apparayata Usiilura_ he muttered, holding his wand to Bill's throat. Bill's color began to return to normal and while he was still breathing hard, it was beginnning to return to normal. Charlie crawled a few more feet to Percy and performed the spell again. It had a similar effect and the trio looked fleur over. Her skin was paler than normal and her heart was beating very fast. Her eyes remained closed and she had no reaction to Bill's saying her name in heartbroken tones.

"Fleur, what's wrong. Wake up now Fleur. Don't do this to me. Open your eyes now!!!" Bill commanded.

Charlie and Percy began examining the room again. Percy knew he needed to get Fleur out of there is she was ever going to get better.

"Hey, where did this door come from?" Charlie asked.

Percy joined him in the examination. "Well, it wasn't here before. Maybe all that magic being released activated it." The door was wooden with a heavy feeling of security and protecting emanating from it. There were carved, stylized animals adorning it and no doorknob. "How do we open it?"

Charlie pushed on it and it moved easily, revealing a dark forest, starless and moonless sky, and a huge wolf with glistening eyes and fangs. Charlie quickly pulled the door as closed as possible and waited tensely for the beast to attack. The attack never came and he cracked the door open. There was an idyllic field now on the other side. Percy saw yellow and green field stretching out toward the horizon and the sky was a beautiful, clear blue. He almost stepped out before remember the dark wolf from before. What if another wolf or large creature defended this one. Sure enough, a lion lay curled and sleeping just outside of Percy's view before he looked around. This time Percy pulled the door closedas quietly as possible. Bill attention finally left Fleur.

"So what is it?" He asked, lines appearing between his brow as he concentrated like never before for possibilities. Percy was also running ideas through his mind. What could this door be and what could it mean?

Fleur's body suddenly tensed behind them and Bill rushed to her side as if drawn by a rubber band. She was sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What happened?" Her musical voice asked.

Bill knelt beside her, enveloping her in a huge hug and closing his eyes. She returned the hug tentatively and her eyes were drawn to Percy, Charlie, and the mysterious door.

"Oh, you found the way out." She smiled brightly, some of the weariness leaving her face.

"Um, no, this door goes to many places, none of which have been recognizable."

Fleur giggled. "It's a Goggainaeaux. You know, a door to many places. If you concentrate on where you want to go, it will take you there. They take a lot of energy to create and call." Her demeanor became more serious. "That must be why I collapsed. The veela in me is the natural power source for these doors." She shuddered. "My grandmother was once captured by wizards who used her to power their doors for almost 10 years before she managed to escape." She shuddered and closed her eyes, returning Bill's hug fiercely before opening her eyes moments later. "Thank you all so much for saving me from that fate."

Charlie blushed and nodded.

Percy said, "You're welcome. So, how do we work it?"

Bill finally released Fleur and helped her up before the duo walked, hand in hand, to examine the doorway. Fleur reached out a hand to touch it before Bill grabbed it and brang it to his lips.

"Maybe I should..." He trailed off and Fleur smiled.

"I can do this." Her accent became more French in her determination. Bill smiled ruefully and released her.

She touched the door and it became bathed in a gentle golden light. Her face became peaceful and she stroked the door in an oddly sensual way.

"Um, Fleur." Bill said. She didn't respond for a long moment.

"Yes Bill." She said dreamily, continuing her ministrations.

"Home." Bill grasped her other hand.

"Of course." She pushed open the door. Before them was the entrance to Diagon Alley from muggle London. "This is the closest doorway." Percy and Charlie looked at each other before stepping as one into the area in front of the wall. There were no dangerous monsters in sight. Bill tried to pull Fleur through and Charlie joined him when she resisted releasing the door. The two managed to force her through the doorway and to the other side. She shrieked as they pulled her hand from the door.

After the shriek ended, Fleur shook her head and frowned.

"Honey." Bill said tentatively. "Are you okay?"

"Of course, but you shouldn't have forced me to let go. I could have understood." Fleur stared back at the door with longing in her eyes.

"Understood what?" Percy asked as Charlie taped the bricks that would allow them access to Diagon Alley.

"I don't remember." There was a supremely unhappy look on her face as she contemplated the three brothers around her.

They entered Diagon Alley and popped over to Senor Garibaldi's Mexican Restaurant for some food Fleur did not need to fix. All four felt ridiculously hungry after the last few tense days. Percy felt a pull away from Charlie, Bill, and Fleur. Now that she was home and Bill was escorting her to St Mungo's for a (in her view totally unnecessary) checkup, Percy just wanted to see Luna.


End file.
